Learning
by Justmebymyself
Summary: rated for language...and a lil' playfullness. Melanie drops into Middle Earth...not too unusual...but what is she when she gets there? My first fic. LAST CHAPTER IS UP...
1. A Birthday Wish

A/N: So sorry for this story. I have no flipping clue where I am going with it, and have no idea how to get there. This story has many sub-plots and plot-holes that don't make a lot of sense, but it is my first fan-fiction. Mary Sue warning, Flames welcome, Reviews more welcome.  
  
Disclaimer: Tolkien is almighty and owns all of Middle Earth. Including Legolas.   
  
Tolkien: ESPECIALLY LEGOLAS!  
  
Me: You own him, but I kidnapped him for the story. Eh, yeah, ANYwho, the only things I own are Melanie, her loser father and Artimas. And ahh . . .everyone you don't recognize. I don't own Huntington, Indiana, it is a real place that I have gone to a couple times. I don't even really own the plot, as it is a mix of a bunch of stuff I've seen in other fan fics. BTW, I love Harry Potter, so if I start to talk about him every once in a while, ignore it.   
  
P.S.I'm writing a Lupin fic, so you should totally check it out. It isn't as far as this one though.   
  
Chapter One: A Birthday Wish  
  
I'm young and I'm hopeless,  
  
I'm lost and I've noticed,   
  
I'm going nowhere fast that's what they say.  
  
I'm troublesome and falling,  
  
I'm angry at my father,  
  
It's me against this world . . . And I don't care.  
  
-Good Charlotte, The Young and the Hopeless.  
  
It was her birthday when it happened. She was in the eleventh grade, and was turning seventeen. She smiled to herself. Amazing, really, that she had lived to be seventeen. That was okay, she wouldn't make eighteen. Of that she was sure, she would end it all tonight. However, she wanted to celebrate the end of her misery. She baked herself a cake. Yes, it was kind of sick, but so was her life. The girl's parent was not at home, which she was grateful for. Then she reminded herself that he was probably out drinking. The girl decided she'd make one last wish, one more chance she'd take at living. "Take me away, far away from here. Anywhere," and then, as an afterthought, she added, "I don't care, I'll do anything." And then, just as she blew out the candles, there was a flash of light, and everything went black.  
  
She woke up feeling something heavy on her back. It was an odd feeling. The girl opened her eyes. She screamed. But her scream came out as a whiny. It was night, in the middle of a wood, and she had a grungy man on her back. There were cold metal reigns in her mouth. Yup, you guessed it. She was a horse. And she was being urged into battle with some of the ugliest creatures ever seen. They were kind of a cross between an ape, an old ugly man, and some dirt. No, scratch that, A LOT of dirt. Yuck.  
  
But, anyway, she was being urged into battle. But she decided: NO WAY IN HELL! I mean, what would you do? And that was her big mistake. The man on top of her got struck down as he tried to urge her towards one of the filthy creatures. She whinnied in fear. 'What the fuck am I supposed to do now?' she thought.  
  
But then, she realized that the battle was over. There were no more ugly creatures. There were just men. Lots of men. She tried to bite her lip, but couldn't on account of the fact that she was a bloody horse!   
  
A man with blonde hair (even at night you could tell how blonde he was) walked up to her. In the background the men were burning the carcasses of the creatures. And then the girl understood. How many times had she seen that movie? These creatures were goblins! And that blonde man walking towards her with his hand outstretched was Eomer! NO WAY.  
  
"Shh, Arod, shh!" he said as he patted her head. She snorted. He led her to one of the other horses. It was brown with a white blaze. She noticed that he too, was riderless. "Take care of them," Eomer told another man, and then he left to tend to the wounded. The other man made soft clicking noises as he prodded and poked at the brown horse. He tossed his brown mane as the man finished. Then the man turned towards Arod, and she tried to back away. She couldn't, of coarse, because he was holding her reigns.   
  
"Hush now Arod, I'm not going to hurt you!" The man said in a soft voice. NO, ya think? She figured that out already, but no way was she going to let him prod at her like he did the other horse!  
  
"What is wrong with you?" asked a voice beside her. She turned, and looked. Nothing but the other horse. "Excuse me? Would you do me the courtesy of answering my question," it said again, in a very irritated voice. It was the horse! 'Oh great, I'm in Middle Earth, I'm a horse, and other horses are talking to me. Perhaps I'm just dreaming... I hope.'  
  
Just then the man used her momentary lack of attention by prodding her over the legs, back, and hindquarters. The girl/horse let out a shrill cry, and he let her be after he tethered both of them to a tree. He too went to tend to the wounded.  
  
"You can talk!" she said, but she didn't feel her horse lips move. Instead she felt her words sort of leak out of her brain through her ears. What a weird feeling! The horse nodded his head. "Are you hurt?  
  
"No," she said.  
  
"Then why were you so afraid of Denethor?"  
  
"I didn't want him to touch me!"   
  
At that he snorted. "What is your name oh - foolish - one?" he asked.  
  
"Well, I suppose it is Arod now," She said sadly, "It used to be Melanie."   
  
"I am Hasufel," he said proudly, "Son of Grandfen and Anale." He drew up his head, and it appeared he wanted her to be impressed. How was a horse supposed to look impressed? Well, Melanie settled for bowing her head a little. Then, on sudden inspiration, she said, "You have a proud heritage."  
  
He snorted in a satisfied sort of way. Hasufel looked past Melanie to the sky. "The sun rises. We ride." Before she knew it she was tethered to Hasufel who was tethered to another horse. None of the other horses seemed to want to talk to them. Melanie supposed it was because they lost riders. Melanie assumed the others considered it was Hasufel and Melanie's fault the riders were dead. Then the horses started to run. Not run, gallop.  
  
Melanie couldn't believe she could go so fast. She was really flying! She threw back her head in joy. Hasufel was laughing. This was the best. Running, running, running. Fun.  
  
Then they all started to turn around back to where we had come. A man, tall, sweaty looking, was standing on a hill. How on earth could they have passed by him? And then Melanie noticed a short man, and a very tall VERY good looking man step out from behind the first.   
  
They surrounded the three. Melanie could see they were not afraid at all. Then Eomer spoke. "What business does an elf, a man, and a dwarf have with the Ridermark? Speak quickly!"  
  
"Give me your name horse master, and I shall give ye mine." said the dwarf  
  
"I would cut off your head, dwarf, if it stood a little higher from the ground," Eomer said casually.  
  
"You would die before your stroke fell," said Legolas, while notching a bow faster than I could blink. Aragorn lowered Legolas's bow and spoke.  
  
"I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Gimli, son of Gloin, and Legolas, of the Woodland Realm." he said, motioning to his companions. "We are friends of Rohan. And Theoden, your king."  
  
"Theoden no longer recognizes friend from foe," Eomer replied, taking off his helmet, "Not even his own kin." At this, all the Riders lowered the spears that they had been pointing at the three. "Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over these lands. My company is those loyal to Rohan. And for that, we have been banished," He paused and then spoke again, "The white wizard is cunning," he whispered, looking around at his companions for support, "He walks here and there, they say, as an old man, hooded and cloaked. And everywhere his spies slip past our nets." At this he looked pointedly at Legolas, the oh so hot elf. Legolas looked defiantly back at him.  
  
"We are no spies," said Aragorn, seeing the two looking daggers at each other. "We track a party of Urak-Hi westward across the plains. They have taken two of our friends captive," he finished in a sad tone.  
  
"The Uraks are destroyed, we slaughtered them during the night," Eomer said emotionlessly, while turning to look at Aragorn.  
  
"Did you see two Hobbits with them?" cried Gimli frantically.  
  
"They would be small, only children to your eyes," Aragorn put in.  
  
"We left none alive," said Eomer, "We piled the carcasses and burned them," Melanie wondered why they did that, what was the point? Oh well. Eomer motioned towards the burning ground far behind them, littered with dead orcs.  
  
"Dead," Gimli grunted huskily.  
  
Eomer nodded his head, "I am sorry."  
  
Then Eomer whistled, "Hasufel, Arod," and the two were pulled over towards them. Melanie shivered uncomfortably, as Legolas reached out and stroked her neck. "May they take you to better fortune than their masters," he said, "Farewell."   
  
"Look for your friends, but do not trust to hope. It is forsaken in these lands, we ride north!" He called out to his companions and the rest of the Rohirrim rode away, leaving two horses, an elf, a man, and a dwarf standing there.   
  
"Oh shit," Melanie said to Hasufel. He merely laughed his horse laugh.  
  
Melanie tried to back away from Legolas, but those confounded reigns held her back. She kept thinking how it would be if suddenly, she changed back into a human WHILE HE WAS RIDING HER. Yeah, not a good thing. Plus her back was in severe pain from . . . other things.  
  
"This horse has been mistreated," said Legolas to Aragorn. Well, he was right. She had been mistreated, but not by the Riders of Rohan. Legolas tried to get close to Melanie again, but she wouldn't let him. Then he stopped, and he spoke. Very soft, very musical words. Melanie couldn't understand the language. She could tell the words were kind and gentle. Melanie lowered her head. Then Melanie felt something she didn't expect: Legolas took her saddle off! For a moment Melanie sighed in relief at having that thing off her. Then she realized what Legolas was planning to do: ride her bareback. Oh shit. And, just as Melanie knew he would, Legolas mounted her. She was surprised. When the man from Rohan had been on her, she felt a heavy weight on her back. With Legolas on her, she hardly felt anything. That is, until Legolas helped Gimli up. Anyone could tell he was uneasy around horses, plus he weighed a ton!   
  
Aragorn mounted Hasufel. Hasufel drew his head up. Melanie could tell he was proud that he was carrying the king of kings. And then her thoughts turned, once again, to whom she was carrying. Legolas Greenleaf. She was carrying an elf, an immortal. Melanie suddenly felt VERY protective of her burden (not so much Gimli.) Aragorn interrupted her musings, "We ride!" and he urged Hasufel into a gallop. Legolas didn't even need to rap her sides with his legs (wow, did THAT sound weird) before she started to run. Hasufel and Aragorn were ahead of them. Far ahead. Melanie did not care. She did not want her riders to be injured. She heard Legolas mutter a reprimand, and it felt as though her heart would shatter.   
  
Melanie speeded up a bit and Hasufel and Aragorn came into view. When they came to a hault, Melanie felt her breath constrict. Being at that site once was enough. The smell of the dead and burned Orcs was unbearable!  
  
Aragorn dismounted Hasufel and Legolas followed suit, helping Gimli down (from Mel's aching back) as well.  
  
Melanie watched from the top of the hill, as they approached the large pile. Gimli dug through the pile with the end of his axe and then picked something up.  
  
He looked up at Aragorn and Legolas and then said, "Its one of their wee belts." He held it up for them to see. Legolas bowed his head and began to mutter things in elvish. He was praying. Aragorn kicked a helmet and started to yell with anger. Her stomach lurched. He kneeled down on the ground and stopped to ponder for a few seconds.  
  
"A hobbit lay here," he murmered, "They crawled. Their hands were bound."  
  
Legolas and Gimli both looked up and followed him as he crawled across the ground, looking for clues. He picked up a piece of rope.   
  
"Their bounds were cut," he said, a glimmer of hope in his voice.  
  
"He's onto something," Melanie said to Hasufel.  
  
"NO!" Hasufel replied sarcastically. She shot him a nasty, yet amused look before setting off after the trio. He followed, chuckling. They had stopped in front off Fangorn forest.  
  
Hasufel and Melanie started to trot into the forest but Legolas stopped them. Melanie snorted with anger.   
  
He merely shook his head. She felt more anger at this. It sucked being this stupid horse! Melanie really wanted to go with them. Why couldn't she be a human again? Why couldn't she go into the forest with them? Melanie felt her anger surge from her head, through her body and down to her hooves.   
  
There was a small POP, and she fell painfully to the ground. She looked down at her hooves . . . but they weren't hooves! They were feet! She looked at her hands . . . her hands!   
  
"Will you let me come now?" 


	2. Into the Woods

Chapter Two: Into the Woods   
  
Hey,  
  
Don't write yourself off yet   
  
It's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on   
  
Just try your best   
  
Try everything you can   
  
And don't you worry what they tell themselves when you're away  
  
It just takes some time   
  
Little girl, you're in the middle of the ride.  
  
Everything, everything will be just fine.   
  
Everything, everything will be all right.   
  
-Jimmy Eat World, The Middle  
  
"This is very dark magic!" Gimli shouted, "She is a spy! Kill her," he added. Melanie shot him a slightly angry, very frightened look.   
  
"Hey Gimli, you forgot your free balloon." She blew on her thumb, pretending to inflate her middle finger. In other words, Melanie flicked him off. (She wasn't entirely sure he understood what she meant). Legolas and Aragorn stepped toward her, both their weapons still raised. Legolas, before he could help himself, looked her up and down. She was fair, that was for sure. Not beautiful, but fair. Freckles dotted her nose and under eyes. She looked that of an average maiden, except her hair was cut in a bob. Her hair was golden, like that of himself and of the people of Mirkwood, her eyes were grey. Yet there was something about those eyes. They were haunted, void of emotion, empty . . . Pulling himself out of her eyes, Legolas focused upon what Aragorn was saying.  
  
"Have you any weapons?" asked Aragorn in a hiss.   
  
"No!" Mel said, annoyed, "Do you see any?"   
  
Legolas thought she did have a point. She was dressed in a strange type of tunic and an even stranger pair of breeches. (In reality, she was wearing a deep blue tee-shirt and some jeans).  
  
"Who do you serve? What are you doing here? And why should we not kill you where you stand?" Legolas asked. Mel looked at him sadly. If this was how she was to die, then she might as well die telling the truth. Legolas regretted slightly being so harsh to her, but Gimli was right, she could be a spy for Saruman, or even worse, Sauron.  
  
Melanie sniffed and said, "First of all, I want this clear, I don't serve ANYONE. Not any more anyway."   
  
Gimli made a "yeah right I'll believe that when I see it" type of noise.   
  
"Second, I'm not really sure what I'm doing here. And third, well, I really have no reason why you should not kill me where I stand," she said with no emotions.  
  
"Your life means nothing to you?" Legolas asked in amazement, lowering his bow ever so slightly. That truly was odd. Legolas, being an elf, valued life in the highest, and he never thought others could have a different view.  
  
"No. It means nothing to anyone else, why should it mean anything to me?" she said in slight amusement.   
  
Aragorn and Legolas drew in a sharp intake of breath as they exchanged looks. Gimli seemed unaffected by this piece of information. "If her life means nothing to her, let's leave her here. If she wants to try and find the Riders," he said this with a laugh, "Then she is welcome to try."  
  
"Fine," Melanie said (with more boredom than anger), turning her back to them.   
  
"Wait!" Aragorn said. "We do not know if she is a spy." Melanie sighed.   
  
Legolas came closer to Melanie. His arrow brushed her side. Melanie looked up into his eyes. He seemed to be trying to read her mind. Melanie swallowed.   
  
What was going on behind those eyes? Legolas could not tell, but the expression on her face was one mainly of nervousness, and of fear. If she were on the side of good, why would she be afraid? Or, it could just be she was weary of being killed or harmed because she wasn't evil. Legolas decided. "We cannot leave her," he said finally, "Be her spy or not, we cannot leave her to die."   
  
Aragorn nodded his head, "By the look of her, I believe she could not last more than a day in the wilderness."  
  
"Hello?" she said, waving her hands, "I am right here you know!"  
  
Gimli said, "Her speech and attire are so foreign. Where are you from?" he shot at Melanie.  
  
Mel thought for a moment, debating with herself if she should tell them the truth or not. The only places she knew of in Middle Earth were the Shire, where, obviously, she could not be from, Lothlorien...elves, Rohan,possibly..., Mordor, out of the question, Mirkwood, elves, Gondor, but then how did she get from Gondor to Rohan while traveling with the riders?, and Rivendell, again, elves. "I'm uh-uh from, uh Rohan," she said.  
  
"No you aren't," said Aragorn. Melanie realized too late that she had said Ro-han instead of Rohon. Damn pronunciation. "Huntington, Indiana, USA," she said, looking from blank face to blank face. Then she added "Earth." That got her some funny looks.   
  
"Earth? But surely you mean Middle Earth?" said Aragorn.  
  
Melanie took a deep breath to prepare herself for a lot of explaining. "No," she said, "I am from a place called Earth. It is another world. I think that I'm dreaming," Mel said. "Because in my world you are all characters in books and movies."  
  
They stared. "Yeah," she said. "Think how I feel, knowing what will happen. But even as I'm saying this, my memory of the books and movies is like, floating away. So weird . . . I remember everything before this, but . . ."  
  
"But how did you get here?" Legolas asked.  
  
"Well, it was my birthday . . . and I sort of made a wish to come here. If I really am here. Which I'm not. I'll wake up in my room in a couple of minutes, miserable, as usual. Yup, I'm dreaming." She reached over to her arm and pinched herself. She felt a little pain, which went away as quicker than it had come. Mel's arm whitened and then turned back to its normal tan shade. Or not. She thought.  
  
"Hmm . . ." said Aragorn thinking it over. He and Legolas exchanged looks. Then, before she knew it, Legolas was behind her binding her hands, and Aragorn was in front of her, holding her shoulders.  
  
"GET OFF!!!!!" Melanie yelled, making birds rise out of the trees. Too late. They had bound her hands behind her back.   
  
She screamed and tried to kick them, but instead fell over. Aragorn drew his sword. She looked at it with wide eyes. She made a small squeak as his cold sword was pressed against her back, taking her breath away. Aragorn looked at her strangely, as did Legolas.   
  
"Please don't do that," she said, closing her eyes. Aragorn replied by pushing her slightly in the back. She let out a strangled cry. Aragorn seemed quite taken aback by what happened. Legolas took a step in between the two. "You lead Aragorn, Gimli, you follow, I will take care of the girl," he said. Aragorn nodded and stepped into the forest, Gimli followed.   
  
Legolas wrapped his slender fingers around her left arm and gently lifted her to her feet. "Go," Legolas said, motioning with his bow after them. She followed Aragorn and Gimli, Legolas followed her. She was relieved to find that he was not jabbing her in the back with the arrow point. Hasufel followed behind. Why was Hasufel allowed to come now? Melanie shook her head in disbelief, and she wondered why they wouldn't let her ride him, but then she supposed she could have easily escaped.  
  
Melanie kept tripping as they walked through the forest, Legolas kept having to pull her up. Finally, she had enough. Melanie sat on the ground and looked up at them. Her back was hurting, her legs were scraped from where she kept falling, her body ached from where she had been beaten by her father two days ago, AND she was hungry. She hadn't eaten anything since the Mac N' Cheese she had before the birthday cake.  
  
"I can't go any farther," Mel said, panting.   
  
"Get up," said Gimli. "You're fine."   
  
"I do not know," said Legolas, "perhaps we should let her rest."  
  
Aragorn sighed, "I cannot track in the dark anyway. Let us set up camp."   
  
Melanie watched as the men got a fire going. Legolas warned them to only pick wood off the ground. As Gimli was cooking some sort of meat, Melanie tried to lie back on the ground. Her back exploded in pain. Against her will, Melanie let out a groan of pain, which did not go unnoticed.   
  
"What is wrong?" Legolas asked, walking toward her.   
  
"I'm fine," she said, lying through gritted teeth.  
  
He sat next to Mel and said, "You are a poor liar."  
  
She replied, "Yeah. I guess you could say it's not my best talent."  
  
"What is your name?" He asked.  
  
"Oh," She began. She gave her horse name. "It's Arod."  
  
"Arod. That is a name for a horse, not a person." Legolas said, "I must pick a name for you. For now I will call you mellonamin. It means my friend."  
  
She smiled. He apparently did not think her a spy. "Thanks Legolas," Mel said, "But my real name is Melanie. That okay?"  
  
"If that is what you prefer," he said."Turn around." Melanie raised one eyebrow but obeyed. He undid the ropes on her hands. Aragorn saw this. He caught Legolas's eye and nodded, then turned away. "Thank you," Mel said to Legolas. She turned to look at him, to see that he was frowning. "What?" She asked.  
  
"Now, what was wrong to make you cry in pain?" he asked, but it seemed as if already knew.  
  
"It's nothing," Mel said, quickly. She bit her lip.  
  
"It's something," he insisted. "Let myself or Aragorn take a look. It may be what is causing you discomfort." Hell, she knew that was what was causing her discomfort, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let those two look at it.   
  
"Let me see it!" Legolas whispered, angry at her lack of obeying what he considered to be an order.  
  
"NO!" She whispered back. She turned away from him. That was her big mistake. He brushed her shirt up to see a bruise on her lower back, and he quickly dropped the shirt down again. Yes, she was embarrassed. It was because of her father. That particular bruise was from the day he had come home, announced he had been fired, and somehow figured out that it was Melanie's fault.   
  
Flashback:   
  
"You filthy girl. You kept forgetting to pack my lunch. I had to go out to eat and I can never make it back on time, God damned traffic. And do you know what they did?" he asked.  
  
"No Dad."  
  
"They fired me. Because of you! Get over here!" he yelled at her and she came. And she was beaten. Horribly. End flashback. That was the day before her birthday. As she was thinking this, Legolas touched the bruise very lightly. It did hurt Melanie, but she did not want him to know it.  
  
"Does it hurt?" he asked in a breathless voice.  
  
"No," Mel lied. He turned her face so she had to look into his deep green eyes. He asked again, "Does it hurt?"   
  
"What do you think?" She answered. That was enough for him. "Aragorn!" he called over to the fire. Aragorn walked over.   
  
"Legolas please!" She hissed.  
  
"What is wrong?" Aragorn asked, looking from Melanie to Legolas and back again.   
  
"She is injured," Legolas said, motioning to Melanie. Aragorn walked in back of Melanie, pulled up her shirt, and took a look. (Aragorn pulled the shirt up all the way, and he saw the scratches and bruises on Melanie's shoulders and neck too.)  
  
Aragron took a sharp intake of breath, as did Legolas. Melanie closed her eyes. "Legolas, go boil some water and get me my medical bag," he finally said. Legolas nodded and walked over to the fire. Mel looked at Aragorn.  
  
"Aragorn please, it isn't that bad, you don't have to, . . ." she began to say, but he held up his hand for her to shut up.  
  
"Do you know what color those bruises are?" He asked.  
  
"Ah, I'm taking a wild guess here, but I'm going to say blue," Mel said.  
  
"They are green," she pulled a face, "And the scratches have opened up and are oozing. They have become infected. This should have been treated sooner," he said angrily. "Tomorrow morning you and I will have a long talk, Little - one." Melanie gulped. She didn't like that idea.  
  
"I think not," Mel muttered. He didn't hear her (luckily).  
  
Legolas walked over with a pot and a large bag. Aragorn took the bag and rummaged a bit in it, before pulling out a plant of some sort. He ripped it in half and let the juice drain into the steaming pot. He looked at Legolas, then to Melanie.   
  
"She will need to lie down on her front, then perhaps on her back. Are your ribs bruised?" Aragon asked, turning to Melanie.  
  
She started to shake her head no, but then Legolas caught her eye and she nodded. Aragorn took a quick step toward her and slightly lifted the shirt again. She wanted to smack him, or at least take a step back, but she found that Legolas was pinning her arms to her sides. Aragorn gently prodded her ribs. She gave a gasp of shock and pain.  
  
"Are you finished perving?" she asked bitterly to Aragorn. It looked for a moment as if he were angry, but then he sighed.   
  
"You are lucky to not have a rib broken. Anyway, first to business, lie down on your front-" Aragorn started to say, but stopped when he realized he did not know her name.   
  
"Melanie," Legolas supplied.  
  
Aragorn nodded at his friend and said, "Legolas will you let her rest her head in your lap?" Aragorn asked. Melanie blushed furiously and looked quickly at the forest floor. She knew she shouldn't be thinking like that at this time, but she couldn't help it! To make matters worse, Legolas nodded his head yes. Before Mel knew it, Legolas pulled her onto the ground. He sat Indian-style. With a last look at Aragorn, Melanie stretched out, her head resting on Legolas's leg.   
  
Aragorn kneeled down beside them. He hiked up the shirt. He shook his head at the bra strap and quickly undid it, earning a startled gasp from Melanie which he ignored. Next, he dipped a strip of cloth into the hot water, squeezed it out, and then placed it to her back. Not only did it sting with all the powers of evil, it was hot as hell! So it was understandable what she did next.  
  
Mel gripped Legolas's leg and yelled into the night, "GODAMMITSONOFABITCH!" Feeling very sorry for the poor girl, Legolas patted her head and whispered to her, "Shh, shh, ne sal` [be still] Melanie."  
  
Then Aragorn began to gently rub the cloth in circles. That was pure torture. Melanie did not scream again, but she was biting her lip hard enough to draw blood and tears were streaming silently down her face, falling onto Legolas's tunic. Mel's hands were white because she was gripping Legolas's leg so hard. Legolas grimaced at the bear-trap that was Melanie's hand. He pried them off his leg and held them both in one of his hands. Immediately they tightened. Then he ran his fingers through her hair. "Tanka harwar, tanka harwar mellonamin."[Tanka harwar-old healing spell.]  
  
After about five more minutes of torture, Aragorn let up. Melanie was breathing in shaky breaths. Legolas looked at Aragorn, "Lle tela? [Are you finished?]" he asked.  
  
Aragorn said, "Uma, [yes]." Legolas closed his eyes for a moment, swallowed, and quickly re-hooked her bra.   
  
"What does that mean?" She asked, while slowly getting up. Big mistake.   
  
"I am finished, Little One," said Aragorn.   
  
"Thanks," was all she could really say, as she tried to get up. She failed, and was caught by Legolas, who said,   
  
"If you do not want to undo all of Aragorn's hard work, you will let me carry you toward the fire. Then you will eat some of the delicious meat that Gimli so generously is offering you. And then," he said, his commanding tone reaching its pitch, "You will go to sleep so you can wake up rested and ready to face tomorrow." And with that he gently lifted Melanie into the air and walked over to the fire. He set her down on a blanket that was spread out close enough to feel the warmth from the fire, but far enough away so she wouldn't be lit on fire.   
  
Gimli gave her a plate of meat and she slowly began to chew it. It was very . . . natural. And naturally, she almost barfed as she swallowed the last piece. Then she lay down on her front and closed her eyes. Melanie tried to fall asleep, but it was difficult. She was of course tired but the day's events kept playing threw her head along with the gruesome thought of the promised "talk" with Aragorn.   
  
He was going to bombard her with questions. Then she began asking herself: Will she ever go home? She liked it here better. Besides, would it even be possible for her to go home? How did she even get here? How the hell did she change from human, to horse, and back again? She looked at the remainder of the Fellowship. Gimli was snoring, Aragorn was keeping watch, and Legolas, Legolas was standing above her!   
  
Legolas was actually standing by her for quite some time, just looking at her. She was so tired, and helpless looking. For some odd reason, he felt a need to be near her.  
  
"Damn!" she said, "You need to learn to make some noise, you're gonna give me a heart attack!" Melanie said. Legolas kneeled beside her.  
  
"Are you in pain?" he asked her.  
  
"Yeah," she said. She had done enough lying for today, plus she was now too tired to care.  
  
"I want to know what happened to you," Legolas said. If Melanie could have, she would have sat straight up, but, lying on her front, that was not possible.   
  
"Please Legolas," Melanie said, "Trust me, ya don't wanna know." Legolas sighed. He reached out and touched her head with his hand. Melanie's heart seemed to stop. Then, Legolas, as though he realized what he was doing, withdrew his hand.  
  
"Go to sleep Melanie," he whispered.   
  
"Will you stay with me?" she said, her eyes drooping.  
  
"Yes Melanie."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Just as she was drifting off to dream land, Melanie thought she felt someone kiss her forehead, but it was probably just her imagination.  
  
"Quel kaima," Legoals whispered. He sat next to her deep in thought the rest of the night. 


	3. A Needed Sit Down

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, especially the constructive critism....Also, I know my story is gonna go a little out of cannon, but hopefully not too much, because I have a plot of my own...sorta. I tried to make her slightly less mary-sueish- her eyes are grey, and her hair is short... In the previous chapter I said Legolas's eyes are green. I know that Legolas has blue eyes, but I wanted them to be green. So here's chapter three.   
  
Chapter Three: A Needed Sit Down  
  
You're a bitch, but I love you anyway,  
  
You can sing, but you still put me to sleep,  
  
Baby, You're a bitch, hey, hey, hey, hey,  
  
You make me sick, but don't ever go away.  
  
-Bowling for Soup, The Bitch Song.  
  
Melanie woke up very stiff, and on her back. She sat up quickly and then really wished she hadn't. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas were already up and preparing breakfast. She then tried sitting up slowly. She found someone's Lothlorian cloak had been placed over her. Melanie smiled as she stretched. Her back was still very sore, but it was feeling better already. Looking around, she noticed Hasufel was gone.  
  
"Where is Hasufel?" Melanie asked in an innocent voice. She hated that when she woke up she sounded like she was three. They all turned to look at her. As soon as they saw her, each broke into a smile, even Gimli. She was extremely, wonderfully adorable when she woke up. Her hair was slightly mussed, her eyes were wide in what looked like wonder and happiness, and her voice was light like a child's.  
  
"During the night an old man came and stole him," Gimli said, trying to force his voice into gentler tones. He managed to make it slightly less gruff, "I believe it was Saruman."  
  
Legolas smiled at Gimli's attempt at being sweet. He shook his head and walked over to Melanie, who was stretching and yawning. Suppressing the urge to give her a hug, he handed her a plate of meat. 'Where did that urge come from?' he asked himself in confusion as he settled himself next to Aragorn. Legolas decided to pass on the lucky catch they had made in the forest and settled on some lembas bread.   
  
Melanie took one look at her plate and gave it to Gimli. It was the meat from last night. Just imagine. Disgusting, I know. Melanie wondered what happened to all the lembas bread in the movies, but she didn't ask. She really didn't need them all looking at her like she was some psychotic freak. 'Oh but, I am,' she thought to herself. Legolas passed on the breakfast too. Aha, now she knew he was being sarcastic last night when he said "delicious meat." Legolas came and sat next to her smiling. She reminded him very much of a hobbit. Still smiling, he said to her, "Do you know that you look like a hobbit lass when you wake up?"   
  
"No, but I'm going to take that as a compliment," but as she said this, she ran a hand through her hair, attempting to help her situation a bit. The result made Legolas laugh.   
  
"Okay, fine," she said, in her cute high-pitched voice. She cleared her throat in an attempt to make it normal, but to no avail, "If you're so cool, why don't you fix my hair?"   
  
As soon as Melanie said this, she wondered why he stiffened like that. What had she said to offend him? He said, "I will fix your hair, if you wish," and without another word, he nimbly worked his fingers through her hair, picking out the knots as if it was second nature. Aragorn watched as he did this with amazement. Elves don't usually just do anyone's hair. Usually it was gesture of great compassion for one another. Surely Legolas did not think that way about this young girl?   
  
"Now," Aragorn said, once Legolas had finished Melanie's hair, and she had smiled up at him in return, not aware of what she had asked the elf to do. She then turned to Aragorn. Melanie gulped. "I would like you to explain to us how you received that bruise and those scratches. And be warned," Aragon continued, "That Legolas and I can tell when you are lying." This frightened her a bit, as her father had once said the exact same thing, minus the Legolas part. She took a deep breath.  
  
"Okay," was all Melanie could say. She rubbed her nose, something she did when she was nervous. She brought her hand away from her face. There was a dark smudge of dirt on her hand. She was ready to bet there was still dirt on her face too.  
  
"So . . ." Aragorn said, "What caused those?"  
  
"Right," she said, still in her own little world that she made for herself whenever she thought she was going to be hit.  
  
Legolas turned to Aragorn. "This is not working," he said. Aragorn nodded his head. Gimli decided to use his own tactic before Aragorn or Legolas could stop him.  
  
"Lass?" he said in a gruff voice. Melanie looked at him without seeing him. "Lass!" he said waving his hand in front of her. Thinking that he was about to hit her, Mel violently recoiled form him.  
  
Gimli turned to Aragorn. "What-?"  
  
Melanie shook her head fiercely, trying to regain control. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, just-just I was only-" she said, not paying attention to what she was saying, and making a bigger ass out of herself.  
  
"You are very strange," Aragorn said. "Something has happened to you, and we are curious to know what. Could you please just answer my question?"   
  
Melanie nodded. She was in Middle Earth, her father could never get at her here. "It was my old man," She said trying to keep her voice emotionless.  
  
"Old man?"  
  
"My father."  
  
"Why? What did you do?" Aragorn asked.  
  
Melanie scrunched up her face in mock thoughtfulness. "Dunno," she said finally.  
  
Aragorn put his hand on his hip. Although he did not approve of it, he knew some parents administered beatings on children. But he also knew the child would have had to done something extremely terrible to be deserving of such a punishment. "Do not lie," he said.  
  
"I don't know what I did to make him angry!" Melanie said loudly. "I 've never knew what I've ever done to make him angry!" Legolas clapped his hands to his ears. "Sorry," Mel muttered, and then turned back to Aragorn. "Maybe it was because I was born!" She yelled before she could stop herself.   
  
Legolas closed his eyes in horror. She was not sure if it was horror at what she said, or horror at the noise. "Why do you not value your life?" he asked.  
  
"Because it isn't valuable," Melanie said in annoyance, "Actually right before I came here I was planning to commit suicide."  
  
Legolas's mouth, along with Gimli's, and Aragorn's, dropped open. The silence that followed was very, very, uncomfortable.  
  
"Does this uh- happen regularly?" Gimli asked uncomfortably.  
  
Melanie rolled her eyes. "What, me wanting ta kill myself?"  
  
"No, the other thing, the-reason-"  
  
"Shoot, Gimli, I think I get hit at least once a day," she said uncomfortably.  
  
"How many times does he beat you?" Legolas asked quietly. Somehow, Melanie could not look at him as she said the answer.   
  
"Whenever he feels like it. All the time."  
  
"But-" Gimli interrupted.  
  
"Okay, for the most part I don't know why he hits me. Sometimes I'm a little bitch and I say I deserve a good ass kickin' and-" But Legolas interrupted her.  
  
"I don't believe you could do anything worth being hit for."  
  
"Really?" she said, thinking he was kidding, "didn't you think I was a little bitch when I sat my ass on the forest floor and told y'all I couldn't go on?"  
  
Before anyone could answer her, Aragorn exclaimed, "Please Melanie, control your tongue! I've heard better language from men at pubs!"  
  
Melanie smiled, "If you don't like the way I talk, you can just take it in the balls."  
  
Gimli raised his hand to give her a hard slap across her face, but Melanie was too quick and dodged it, laughing. "See?" she said, "I told you I'm a little bitch! I don't know when to shut my fat mouth..."  
  
"Now would be a good time," said Legolas, but Melanie thought he was holding back a laugh.  
  
"Are you laughing at me?" she turned to him.   
  
"Possibly," said Legolas, and his mouth twitched. He really was holding back a smile. Aragorn seemed astounded at their behavior. Sure, this child acted like, well, like a child. But one of his oldest and dearest friends? Legolas was acting as though he was some young and empty-headed fool . . . Aragorn decided this little chat was over. "We must keep searching for Merry and Pippin, two of our companions that have been lost," he said looking at Mel, "for the sun has already risen."  
  
For a long time Aragorn crawled on the ground, searching for clues. They did a lot of backtracking. Finally, Aragorn said, "Here at last we find news! Hobbit prints!"  
  
"These woods are old," said Legolas for the first time, "They are old and they are angry, but I do not think them to be evil, like the old stories say." He stooped forward, listening. "No, they are not evil. I catch only the faintest echoes of dark places where the hearts of the trees are black. There is no malice near us, but there is watchfulness, and anger."   
  
"Well it has no cause to be angry with me," said Gimli, "I have done it no harm."  
  
"That is just as well," argued Legolas, "But nonetheless it has suffered harm. There is something happening inside, or going to happen. Do you not feel the tenseness? It takes my breath."  
  
'Yeah, well, you take my breath elf-boy,' Melanie thought.  
  
"I feel the air is stuffy," said the Dwarf. "This wood is lighter than Mirkwood, but it is musty and shabby."  
  
"It is old, very old," said the Elf. "So old that I feel young again, as I have not felt since I journeyed with children," he looked straight at Melanie, who rolled her eyes, "It is old and full of memory. I could have been happy here, if I had come in days of peace."   
  
"I dare say you could," snorted Gimli. "You are a Wood-elf, anyway, though Elves of any kind are strange folk. Yet you comfort me. Where you go, I will go. But keep your bow ready to hand, and I will keep my axe loose in my belt. Not for use on trees," he added hastily, looking up at the tree under which they stood. "I do not wish to meet that old man at unawares without an argument ready to hand, that is all. Let us go!"  
  
With that the three hunters and Melanie plunged into the forest of Fangorn. Legolas and Gimli, and of coarse Melanie left the tracking to Aragorn. As Aragorn walked ahead, Melanie turned to Legolas and Gimli. "How old are you two?" she asked.  
  
Gimli laughed and said, "I am 140 years old."  
  
Melanie opened her mouth, shut it again, opened it once more, and then shut it. Legolas laughed his musical laugh and said, "I am 2,931 years old." At this Melanie promptly had a coughing fit.  
  
"How old are you?" Legolas asked innocently.  
  
Melanie abruptly stopped coughing. "Seventeen," she said quietly.  
  
"Pardon?" Legolas said in amazement.  
  
"I. Am. Seventeen," she said slowly and clearly. Before Legolas could respond, Aragorn halted.  
  
"This is good tidings," Aragorn said, pointing to the hobbit prints at the water-side. "Yet the marks are two days old. And it seems that at this point the hobbits left the water."  
  
"Then what shall we do now?" said Gimli. "We cannot pursue them through the whole fastness of Fangorn. We have come ill supplied. If we do not find them soon, we shall be no use to them, except to sit down beside them and show our friendship by starving together."  
  
"If that is indeed all we can do, then we must do that," said Aragorn.   
  
They came at length to the steep abrupt end of Treebeard's Hill, and looked up at the rock-wall with its rough steps leading to the high shelf. Gleams of sun were striking through the hurrying clouds, and the forest now looked less grey and dreary.   
  
"Let us go up and look about us!" said Legolas. "I still feel my breath short. I should like to taste a freer air for a while." They all climbed up. Aragorn came last, moving slowly; he was scanning the steps and ledges closely. Melanie took a great breath to steady herself. It was beautiful.  
  
"I am almost sure that the hobbits have been up here," he said. "But there are other marks, very strange marks, which I do not understand. I wonder if we can see anything from this ledge which will help us to guess which way they went next?"  
  
Legolas said, "We have journeyed a long way round. We could have all come here safe together, if we had left the Great River on the second or third day and struck west. Few can foresee whither their road will lead them, till they come to its end."  
  
"But we did not wish to come to Fangorn," said Gimli.  
  
"Yet here we are - and nicely caught in the net," said Legolas. "Look!"   
  
"Look at what?" said Gimli.  
  
"There in the trees. Someone is approaching." They all watched the someone drew closer. Finally Gimli spoke.  
  
"Your bow, Legolas! Bend it! Do not let him speak, he will put a spell on us!"  
  
Legolas bent his bow. He fitted an arrow to it, but held it loosely as though some will resisted him.   
  
"Legolas is right," said Aragorn quietly. "We must not shoot an old man so, at unawares and unchallenged, whatever fear or doubt be upon us. Watch and wait!"   
  
At that moment the old man quickened his pace and came with surprising speed to the foot of the rock wall. Then suddenly he looked up, while they stood looking down. There wasn't a sound.  
  
They couldn't see his face: he was hooded, and above the hood he wore a wide-brimmed hat, so that all his features were overshadowed, except for the end of his nose and his long grey beard. Yet it seemed to Aragorn that he caught the gleam of keen and bright eyes from within the shadow of the hooded brows.  
  
At last, the old man broke the silence. "Well met indeed, my friends," he said in a soft voice. "I wish to speak to you. Will you come down, or shall I come up?" Without waiting for an answer he began to climb.  
  
"Now!" cried Gimli. "Stop him, Legolas!"   
  
"No Legolas!" said Melanie, "Don't."  
  
"Listen to the child. Did I not say that I wished to speak to you?" said the old man. "Put away that bow, Master Elf!"  
  
The bow and arrow fell from Legolas's hands, and his arms hung loose at his sides.  
  
"And you, master Dwarf, pray take your hand from your axe-haft, till I am up! You will not need such arguments." Gimli started and then stood still as stone, staring, while the man sprang up the rough steps as nimbly as a goat. All weariness seemed to have left him. As he stepped up onto the shelf there was a gleam, too brief for certainty, a quick glint of white, as if some garment shrouded by the grey rags had been for an instant revealed. The intake of Gimli's breath could be heard as a loud hiss in the silence.  
  
"Well met, I say again!" said the old man, coming towards them. When he was a few feet away, he stood, stooping over his staff, with his head thrust forward, peering at them from under his hood. "And what may you be doing in these parts? An Elf, a Man, a Dwarf, and a child, the first three clad in elvish fashion, the fourth clad in a trend unknown to this world. No doubt there is a tale worth hearing behind it all. Such things are not often seen here."  
  
"You speak as one that knows Fangorn well," said Aragorn. "Is that so?"  
  
"Not well," he said, "that would be the study of many lives. But I come here now and again."  
  
"Might we know your name, and then hear what it is that you have to say to us?" said Aragorn. "The morning passes, and we have an errand that will not wait."  
  
"As for what I wished to say, I have said it: What may you be doing, and what tale can you tell of yourselves? As for my name!" He broke off, chuckling. Melanie thought that laugh sounded familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.  
  
Do you like? Hate? Whateva! Reviews...I like them. They taste nice. 


	4. What?

Chapter Four: WHAT?  
  
On and on, reckless abandon,  
  
Something's wrong, this is gonna shock them,  
  
Nothing to hold on to,  
  
We'll use this song to lead you on,  
  
And break the truth with more bad news.  
  
We left a scar, size extra large.  
  
-blink-182, Reckless Abandon  
  
"My name!" said the old man again. "Have you not guessed it already? You have heard it before, I think. Yes, you have heard it before. But come now, what of your tale?"  
  
The companions stood silent and made no answer. Until Melanie said, "Please, please take away this spell of fear and tell them who you are!"  
  
The old man laughed. "But Melanie, my dear, you do not know who I may be!" Melanie shivered. How did he know her name? And that strange something in his voice reminded her of someone. Someone she could not put her finger on.  
  
"You are tracking the footsteps of two young hobbits, I believe. Well, they climbed up here, the day before yesterday. They met someone that they did not expect. Does that comfort you? Why are we standing? Your errand, you see, is no longer as urgent as you thought. Let us sit down and be more at ease."  
  
The old man turned away and went towards a heap of fallen stones and rock at the foot of the cliff behind. Immediately, as if a spell had been removed, the others relaxed and stirred. Gimli's hand went at once to his axe-haft. Aragorn drew his sword. Legolas picked up his bow.  
  
The old man took no notice, but stooped and sat himself on a low flat stone. Then his grey cloak drew apart, and they saw, beyond a doubt, that he was clothed beneath all in white.  
  
"Saruman!" cried Gimli, springing towards him with axe in hand. "Speak! Tell us where you have hidden our friends! What have you done with them? Speak, or I will make a dint in your hat that even a wizard will find it hard to deal with!"  
  
The old man was too quick for him. He sprang to his feet and leaped to the top of a large rock. There he stood, grown suddenly tall, towering above them. His hood and his grey rags were flung away. His white garments shone. He lifted up his staff, and Gimli's axe leaped from his grasp and fell ringing on the ground. Legolas gave a great shout (which made Melanie jump about two feet in the air) and shot an arrow high into the air: it vanished in a flash of flame.  
  
"Mithrandir!" he cried. "Mithrandir!"  
  
"Well met, I say to you again, Legolas!" said the man.  
  
They all gazed at him. His hair was white as snow in the sunshine; and gleaming white was his robe; the eyes under his deep brows were bright, piercing as the rays of the sun; power was in his hand. Between wonder, joy, and fear they stood and found no words to say.  
  
Throughout this time, Melanie had remained silent. She finally saw him, she recognized his face after he threw off his cloak. And she was terribly upset.   
  
Finally she whispered, "Why did you leave me?"  
  
Gandalf turned sadly to her "It has been too long."  
  
Gandalf was not his name to Melanie. It was Grand Da. Everything was becoming confused. What was going on? Finally she made a decision on what to do.  
  
"Grand Da!" she screeched, and she flung herself into his arms, to the amazement of the rest of the company. He shook his head.   
  
"That is who I once was," he said, looking as though he was recalling a very far off memory. "I am now Gandalf the White." Melanie backed away from him. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.  
  
"Why did you leave me?" she said in a whisper.   
  
"You will find out in time," Gandalf said calmly back to her. And suddenly, it all became very, very clear to Melanie. It was not Gandalf's fault her father beat her: it was hers. There was simply something wrong with her, and there was nothing she could do about it. It was all her fault, her beautiful mother... She shook herself mentally, not wanting to dwell in her past. Seeing this, Gandalf put a hand on her shoulder. She took it off and gripped it tightly. There was one familiar face here. She refused to let go of his long fingered and wrinkled hand.   
  
"Gandalf!" said Aragorn. "Beyond all hope you return to us in our need! What veil was over my sight? Gandalf!" Gimli said nothing, but sank to his knees, shading his eyes.  
  
"Yes, you may call me Gandalf," he said, and the voice was the voice of their old friend and guide. "Get up, my good Gimli! No blame to you, and no harm done to me. Indeed my friends, none of you have any weapon that could hurt me. Be merry! We meet again. At the turn of the tide. The great storm is coming, but the tide as turned."  
  
He laid his hand on Gimli's head, and the Dwarf looked up and laughed suddenly. "Gandalf!" he said, "But you are all in white!"  
  
"Yes, I am white now," said Gandalf. "Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been. But come now, tell me of yourselves! I have passed through fire and deep water, since we parted. I have forgotten much that I thought I knew, and learned again much that I had forgotten. I can see many things far off, but many things that are close at hand I cannot see. Tell me of yourselves!  
  
"What do you wish to know?" said Aragorn. "All that has happened since we parted on the bridge would be a long tale. As you see, we have picked up a spare traveler," he motioned to Melanie, "But I see you know her already. Come, before we here of that tale, prey tell what happened to our friends. Did you find them, and are they safe?"  
  
"No I did not find them," said Gandalf. "There was a darkness over the valleys of the Emyn Muil, and I did not know of their captivity, until the eagle told me."  
  
"The eagle!" said Legolas. "I have seen an eagle high and far off: the last time was three days ago, above the Emyn Muil."  
  
"Yes," said Gandalf, "that was Gwaihir the Windlord, who rescued me from Orthanc. I sent him before me to watch the River and gather tidings. His sight is keen, but he cannot see all that passes under hill and tree. Some things he has seen, and others I have seen myself. The Ring now has passed beyond my help, or the help of any of the Company that set out from Rivendell. Very nearly it was revealed to the Enemy, but it escaped. I had some part in that: for I sat in a high place, and I strove with the Dark Tower; and the Shadow passed. Then I was weary, very weary, and I walked long in dark thought."  
  
"Then you know about Frodo!" said Gimli. "How do things go with him?"  
  
"I cannot say. He was saved from a great peril, but many lie before him still. He resolved to go alone to Mordor, and he set out: that is all that I can say."  
  
"Not alone," said Legolas. "We think that Sam went with him."  
  
"Did he!" said Gandalf, and there was a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face. "Did he indeed? It is news to me, yet it does not surprise me. Good, Very Good! You lighten my heart. You must tell me more. Now sit beside me, but before you begin your tale there is someone who you must come to know better if she is to be traveling with us." He turned to Melanie, who looked resignedly back at him.   
  
"This is Melanie Dauson. She is from Earth." They all nodded their heads at this. "But she is not really," said Gandalf, changing his mind as he spoke.  
  
"If she is not from this 'earth' and she is not from Middle Earth, then where is she from?" Gimli asked, "And how is it that she changed from a horse to a human?"  
  
Gandalf laughed. "You assume too much, Gimli."   
  
"She is from Middle Earth." Gandalf said. Melanie's mouth dropped open.  
  
"Yes, Melanie," Gandalf said, "Seventeen years ago you were born to Urfindel and Unnille of Mirkwood."  
  
Melanie interrupted, "But what about my mother? My mother on earth? She was-"   
  
"Not your real mother," Gandalf said grimly. Melanie closed her eyes. Against her will, a tear ran down her cheek. "I loved her," Melanie said.  
  
Gandalf cupped her head in his hands. "Melanie, it was not your fault, let go."  
  
Melanie let out a strangled cry and buried her head in his white beard. Gimli, Aragorn, and Legolas watched this in confusion. What did Gandalf know? But then Melanie separated from him, and he continued.  
  
"Melanie is one of three beings."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"There have been only two others by the like of her. She is one of the Illusion."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The other two were both male, human, and assisted the dark side."  
  
"GANDALF! What are you talking about?"  
  
"You Melanie, are one of a kind. You are a female, and you were born from elves."  
  
"Elves?"  
  
Everyone but Gandalf was totally lost. Legolas spoke. "Is she an elf?"  
  
"Of sorts."  
  
Melanie's eyes widened. How was she an elf? She had never, EVER been graceful, she was not beautiful, and she sure as hell didn't have pointy years. "What!?" she finally said. 


	5. Elf Elf Elf

A/N: 'nother chappy. Not the best. . .but here it is.  
  
Chapter Five: Elf. Elf. Elf.  
  
I may be dumb, but I'm not a dweeb,  
  
I'm just a sucker with no self esteem.  
  
-The Offspring, Self Esteem.  
  
"Come now, what is so bad about being an elf?" said Gandalf in amusement.  
  
"But I can't be an elf!" she said. "I'm not graceful, I'm ugly as sin, and plus, look at these!" she said in anger, tugging on her ears. "These ain't elf ears! They aren't all pointy- ish." She gestured to Legolas, who looked slightly thunderstruck, to prove her point.  
  
Gandalf smiled. "You are not really an elf."  
  
"Well, there then," she said, nodding.  
  
"But you were born from elves. You, however are not of the elvish kind. You are not human, you are not dwarvish. You are not a hobbit. You just . . . are."  
  
Melanie was completely confused. "What a mind fuck."  
  
"And trust me, you aren't ugly as you think. Your appearance was changed slightly to protect you. You must admit, the people of Earth would think it strange for a child to have pointed ears. Now I change you back to how you should be." and he closed his eyes.  
  
Melanie felt her body changing. But, it felt different from when she changed from horse to a human. It felt right. Her body really did not change, but her ears . . . well, lets just say they were now 'pointy- ish." Melanie touched her ears with trembling fingers. She jumped. This is weird. She thought. Every noise seemed 10 times louder than before and her vision increased greatly, (and that's saying something, since she had 20/20 vision). And, to her amazement, she felt her back healing, and all pain was gone from her body.  
  
To the reader, I say this: having found out you're an actual elf: $100. Knowing it isn't all a dream: $500. Seeing the expressions on Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas's faces: Priceless. This was going through Melanie's mind and she laughed out loud.   
  
"I'm an elf, I'm an elf, I'm an elf! I'm an elf elf elf!" she sang to the tune of "William Tell Overture." She skipped around the four of her companions, grinning from ear to pointed ear.  
  
"Guess what Legolas?" asked Melanie.  
  
"What?" said Legolas.  
  
"I'm an elf just like you!" And with that Melanie burst into a fit of giggles.  
  
Gandalf rolled his eyes. "You do not listen, do you?"  
  
"Okay, okay so I am not really an elf. Do I get to be immortal?"  
  
"I do not know. It is likely," said Gandalf, "But you may not get to see immortality. The other two, both served evil in the last wars. You have the ability to serve evil as well."  
  
"But, but I won't right? I mean, I'm a good guy, right? Right?"  
  
"I hope that is the case. You also have abilities to help the side of the righteous. Which do you choose?"  
  
"How am I supposed to help? I can't do anything. I can't fight, I can't plan, I can't even cook."  
  
"Are you blind?" asked Legolas. "I believe we may yet find a use for someone who can obviously change her physical form at will."  
  
"Ohh... Yeah, I suppose."  
  
Gandalf shook his head as he watched the two of them. Then he turned to Aragorn.   
  
"Now I wish to hear of your tale," he said.  
  
So Aragorn took up in the telling of everything that had happened to them since Gandalf's fall in Moria. At last he reached the death of Boromir and his last journey upon the Great River. The old man sighed, "You have not said all that you know or guess, Aragorn my friend," he said quietly. "Poor Boromir! I could not see what happened to him. It was a sore trial for such a man: a warrior, and a lord of men. Galadriel told me that he was in peril. But he escaped in the end. I am glad. It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir's sake. But that is not the only part they have to play. They were brought to Fangorn, and their coming was like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains. Even as we talk here, I hear the first rumblings. Saruman had best not be caught away from home when the dam bursts!"  
  
"In one thing you have not changed, dear friend," said Aragorn: "you still speak in riddles."  
  
"What? In riddles?" said Gandalf. " No! For I was talking aloud to myself. A habbit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to; the long explanations needed by the young are wearying." He gave a half of glance to Melanie, and they both laughed. It was like sunshine upon the air, and Melanie didn't mind that she was laughing at herself.  
  
However, Aragorn seemed to think that Gandalf was talking about him. "I am no longer young even in the reckoning of the Men of Ancient Houses," said Aragorn. "Will you not open your mind more clearly to me?"  
  
"What then shall I say?" said Gandalf, and paused for a while in thought. "This in brief is how I see things at the moment, if you wish to have a piece of my mind as plain as possible. The Enemy, of course, has long known that the Ring is abroad, and that it is born by a hobbit. He knows now the number of our Company that set out from Rivendell, and the kind of each of us. But he does not yet perceive our purpose clearly. He supposes that we were all going to Minas Tirith; for that is what he would himself have done in our place. And according to his wisdom it would have been a heavy stroke against his power. Indeed he is in great fear, not knowing what mighty one may suddenly appear, wielding the Ring, and assailing him with war, seeking to cast him down and take his place. That we should wish to cast him down and have no one in his place is not a thought that occurs to his mind. That we should try to destroy the Ring itself has not yet entered into his darkest dream. In which no doubt you will see our good fortune and our hope. For imagining war he has let loose war, believing that he has no time to waste; for he that strikes the first blow, if he strikes it hard enough, may need to strike no more. So the forces that he has long been preparing he is now setting in motion, sooner than he intended. Wise fool. For if he had used all his power to guard Mordor, so that none could enter, and bent all his guile to the Ring, then indeed hope would have faded: neither Ring nor bearer could long have eluded him. But now his eye gazes abroad rather than near at home; and mostly he looks towards Minas Tirith. Very soon now his strength will fall upon it like a storm.  
  
"For already he knows that the messengers that he sent to waylay the Company have failed again. They have not found the Ring. Neither have they brought away any hobbits as hostages. Had they done even so much as that, it would have been a heavy blow to us, and it might have been fatal. But let us not darken our hearts by imagining the trial of their gentle loyalty in the Dark Tower. For the Enemy has failed - so far. Thanks to Saruman.  
  
Now, of coarse, when someone says to NOT think of something, that always makes you think of it. So it was with Melanie. She imagined Eilijah Wood and Sean Austin being torched. She shivered . Hopefully no one saw.  
  
"Indeed yes," said Gandalf. "Doubly. And is not that strange? Nothing we have endured of late has seemed so grievous as the treason of Isengard. Even reckoned as a lord and captain Saruman has grown very strong. He threatens the Men of Rohan and draws off their help from Minas Tirith, even as the main blow is approaching from the East. Yet a treacherous weapon is ever a danger to the hand. Saruman also had a mind to capture the Ring, for himself, or at least to snare some hobbits for his evil purposes. So between them our enemies have contrived only to bring Merry and Pippin with marvellous speed, and in the nick of time, to Fangorn, where otherwise they would never have come at all!  
  
"Also they have filled themselves with new doubts that disturb their plans. No tidings of the battle will come to Mordor, thanks to the horsemen of Rohan; but the Dark Lord knows that two hobbits were taken in the Emyn Muil and borne away towards Isengard against the will of his own servants. He now has Isengard to fear as well as Minas Tirith. If Minas Tirith falls, it will go to Saruman."  
  
"It is a pity that our friends lie in between," said Gimli. "If no land divided Isengard and Mordor, then they could fight while we watched and waited.  
  
"The victor would emerge stronger than either, and free from doubt," said Gandalf. "But Isengard cannot fight Mordor, unless Saruman first obtains the Ring. That he will never do now. He does not yet know his peril. There is much that he does not know. He was so eager to lay his hands on his prey that he could not wait at home, and he came forth to meet and to spy on his messengers. But he came too late, for once, and the battle was over and beyond his help before he reached these parts. He did not remain here long. I took into his mind and I see his doubt. He has no woodcraft. He believes that the horsemen slew and burned all upon the field of battle; but he does not know whether the Orcs were bringing any prisoners or not. And he does not know of the quarrel between his servants and the Orcs of Mordor; nor does he know of the Winged Messenger."  
  
"The Winged Messenger!" cried Legolas. "I shot him with the bow of Galadriel above the Sarn Gebir, and I felled him from the sky. He filled us all with fear. What new terror is this?"  
  
"One that you cannot slay with arrows," said Gandalf. "You only slew his steed. It was a good deed; but the Rider was soon horsed again. For he was a Nazgul, one of the Nine, who ride now upon winged steeds. Soon their terror will overshadow the last armies of our friends, cutting off the sun. But they have not yet been allowed to cross the River, and Saruman does not know of this new shape in which the Ringwraiths have been clad. His thought is ever on the Ring. Was it present in the battle? Was it found? What if Theoden, Lord of the Mark, should come by it and learn of its power? That is the danger that he sees, and he has fled back to Isengard to double and treble his assault on Rohan. And all the time there is another danger, close at hand, which he does not see, busy with his fiery thoughts. He has forgotten Treebeard."  
  
"Now you speak to yourself again," said Aragorn with a smile. "Treebeard is not known to me. And I have guessed part of Saruman's double treachery; yet I do not see in what way the coming of two hobbits to Fangorn has served, save to give us a long and fruitless chase."  
  
Melanie shook her head at this. Even though she could not remember the future of the movie, she could put together the pieces faster than Aragorn was. Men really were incredibly stupid. She really wanted to tell them. But there was a little voice at the back of her head that kept telling her, "no, no, no, no, NO!" She decided to listen to this little voice for the moment, but made a memo to herself to ask Gandalf for some weed, if this voice kept up she didn't know what she would do.  
  
The others continued to talk and Melanie sort of zoned out on the conversation. She wondered what her father was doing now that he didn't have his favorite punching bag. Then, suddenly they all turned to Melanie. "What?" she asked.  
  
"We have just decided to follow Mithrandir to Edoras," said Legolas, and as he said this, Melanie noticed his ears were quiet red.   
  
"Okay," said Melanie, staring at Legolas's ears.  
  
"And," he continued.  
  
"And?" she said. Gandalf rolled his eyes. "I believe we need another horse."   
  
Melanie fought back a laugh at this. She failed, and she let out a snort of laughter.   
  
"Well yipee ti yo ti ya!" she said, "I just turned into an elf, now I gotta turn back into a horse! Wow, that's a big transformation! Is this my part in this war, to be a flippin' beast of burden?" When no one answered, she sighed. "If I have to, then I will. Who'll ride me?" she said, and then she realized what she said.  
  
"Oh God!" She said, and started laughing. "I am such a bozo!"   
  
"Legolas," said Aragorn.  
  
This shut Melanie up. If you haven't noticed, she had a tiny bit of a crush on this elf. (Yeah. Right, tiny, sure.) "Oh," was all she said. Then Gimli started laughing.   
  
"What?" she said, rounding on him.  
  
"Y-your ears!" he said, pointing at them.  
  
"What about them?" she said.  
  
Aragorn and Gandalf caught on at this, and they started laughing, too.   
  
"They're just like Legolas's!" said Gimli.  
  
"Where have you been?" she asked him. "I'm an elf too, remember?"  
  
"Yes lass, but they are tomato red."   
  
At this she clapped her hands to her ears. "Oh shut up!" Then a whole bunch of bad thoughts ran through her head.   
  
"Bad brain, bad brain, bad brain, ohh . . ." she thought, and then she realized she said that out loud.   
  
"You don't want to know," she said, her eyes scrunched tight against the nasty little ideas.  
  
"How do I change into a horse?" she asked Gandalf, now that her visions had subsided.  
  
"I am not sure," he said thoughtfully, "I don't know how to activate any of you powers, it is you who must find a way."  
  
"Oh gee thanks," said Melanie, "you're a real help."  
  
Melanie tried scrunching up her eyes tightly and concentrating very hard. No good. Then she tried to remember how it was being a horse. Hmm... she was fast, and big... And then she morphed into the horse. She let out a neigh and looked at Gandalf as though she was saying, "I did it. No thanks to you."   
  
A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews! I hope you guys keep it up, I'm hungry and need ego-food. 


	6. Rohan!

A/N: Aight, the timeline is REALLY messed around with, but that's okay. I needed more time. Also, things do tend to happen really fast. I know, I know, it annoys the hell out of me too when I read stuff that happens too fast, but this is just the way it works in this one. KK? Here it is:  
  
Chapter Six: Rohan!  
  
Don't leave me all alone  
  
Just drop me off at home  
  
I'll be fine, it's not the first  
  
Just like last time, but a little worse.  
  
-Blink-182, Don't Leave Me  
  
Then Gandalf gave a long whistle. So clear and piercing was the note that the others stood amazed to hear such a sound come from those old bearded lips. Three times he whistled; and then faint and far off it seemed to them that they heard the whiny of a horse borne up from the plains upon the eastern wind. Then came the sound of hoofs, at first hardly more than a tremor of the ground.   
  
Legolas spoke, "There are two! There is Hasufel. But there is another that strides ahead: a very great horse. I have not seen his like before."  
  
'Oh my,' thought Melanie. She stood and looked at the great horse. He was truly beautiful. And then there was Hasufel. Before she could stop herself she ran to meet them. Shrilly whinnying the way there.  
  
"Hasufel! Hasufel!" she cried. She nuzzled him before he could get a word in edgewise.  
  
"It is good to see you too, Arod." he said, "This is Shadowfax, he is the lord of all the horses, and you'd do well to show your respect!"  
  
"Calm yourself, Hasufel," said Shadowfax, as they trotted toward the company, "I am not the lord over her, she is not truly a horse. But she is still welcomed among us, quickly, let us join them!"  
  
Shadowfax put in a burst of speed as he saw Gandalf, and easily passed Hasufel and Melanie. That was fine by her, she wanted time alone with her friend.  
  
"I'm so glad to see you again!" she said happily.   
  
"The feeling is mutual." said Hasufel. And then Gandalf spoke to them.  
  
"We go to Meduseld, the hall of your master, Theoden," he said gravely. Hasufel and Shadowfax bowed their heads, and Melanie followed suit.  
  
"Hasufel shall bear Aragron and Arod," he said, a twinkle in his eye, "shall bear Legolas. I will set Gimli before me, and by his leave Shadofax shall bear us both."  
  
Melanie felt a bit odd about this whole "bear Legolas" thing. Why is everyone so "smiley smiley" when we were together? She thought. She trotted off to Legolas, who was clearly equally embarrassed. Here it comes. Melanie thought, bracing herself. He mounted her gently and Melanie swore she heard Gimli snigger.   
  
It wasn't so bad, really.  
  
There was one point, when they were ridding, Melanie's neck started to itch. Now she knew how annoying it was to not have hands! But then Legolas reached out and gently scratched her neck. That stopped the itching, but it sent a series of shivers down her back. Unless he was really stupid, Melanie thought, Legolas probably noticed too.  
  
They rode into the night. Finally, Gandalf said they could stop, but only for a few hours. Melanie changed into her elf form and lay down, panting. Legolas walked over to her and lay down beside her. After a few minutes, she looked over at his sleeping face, and was given the shock of her life when she saw that his eyes were open. She looked at his chest, which was rising and falling slowly, telling her he was definitely was asleep. She looked around and saw that Gimli was already asleep, and that Aragorn was lying flat on his back, and Gandalf was staring out into the night. She turned back to Legolas.   
  
She had the strongest urge to touch him. Just to see if he was real. Would it hurt just to touch his face? No, maybe, maybe just his ear. He looked so much like an angel, she could not bear to touch his face. Melanie reached out a shaking hand. She touched the tip of his ear. She ran her finger up and down it once.   
  
Instantly the white mist that covered his open eyes disappeared. Legolas's breathing quickened and became ragged, and he stared at Melanie with wide eyes and mouth slightly open. Had she just done that? Had she actually just done that? Melanie slowly withdrew her hand, her eyes also wide.  
  
"What did I do?" she asked breathlessly. He did not move or speak. He shook his head.  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said, not knowing what she was apologizing for. Then slowly, very slowly, his hand shaking worse than hers had, he reached out and touched the tip of Melanie's right ear, and he ran his finger up and down it once.  
  
It felt as if he had just touched her in someplace very personal. She never knew ears could be so sensitive! Also, Melanie was assaulted with all sorts of feelings and half-formed thoughts. Her stomach was flip flopping. Suddenly her thoughts started to form, and she thought she would cry out in agony. She wanted to be as close as close could be to him. She needed to be. She HAD to. She let out a little whimper.  
  
He turned her around and pulled her close to him. She thought it could never be close enough. She was trembling. Then she noticed that he too, was trembling. And she tried, she really tried to put her body into sleep mode, but all she could think about was his breath on her neck, the way his arm was encircling her waste, and the flip flopping of her stomach.   
  
And then his breathing started to slow, and hers, much to Melanie's amazement, did too.  
  
She slept in Legolas's arms those few hours in which they were allowed to rest.  
  
Melanie awoke to the sound of laughter. She sat up, and Legolas's arm slid from her waste, yet he slept on. She looked around to find who was laughing at her, and saw it was Gandalf and Aragorn. (Gimli was still asleep.)  
  
She walked over to them. "What?" she said sweetly.  
  
Gandalf replied, "Has our Prince of Mirkwood caught someone's fancy?"   
  
Melanie sighed. Suddenly, she was sick of it. "Why yes, actually," she said in her small voice, "I think he's very nice and well, damn, he's got a nice body!"   
  
Aragorn had a silent laughing fit. Gandalf went a bit red in the face. "It has been long since I was so surprised by an answer," but then he smiled, "And I do believe that it is quite a perfect match, is it not Aragorn? After all, Thranduil has been searching for a wife for Legolas for some time, has he not?"  
  
Melanie could not decide whether or not Gandalf was joking.  
  
Aragorn decided not to answer. But Melanie, being the moron that she was, decided she wanted to risk her life and ask about Arwen.   
  
"Well, well, well, is Aragorn afraid of this little topic?" she said. Aragorn pretended not to hear.   
  
"I would hope that he isn't," said Melanie. Gandalf sent her a warning look, which she ignored. Aragorn turned to her, fury outlined in his features.  
  
'I guess I've lived a full life,' Melanie thought to herself. "Because I would think that Arwen wants little boys and girls. And you don't get babies by kisses. You get babies with a little bit of uh-huh uh-huh! And a whole lot of harder, harder!" She pronounced these with a angsty voice and expression, and she moved her waist, for added effect.  
  
Finally what she was hoping for came. Aragorn let out a yell (which successfully woke Gimli and Legolas up) and lunged at Melanie. She stuck out her tongue as she dodged him. Then she ran to Legolas, Aragorn on her heals.  
  
"Legooolaasss! SAVE ME!" She ran screeching to him. She stepped behind him. Aragorn stepped in front of Legolas.  
  
Legolas looked quickly around at Melanie and then turned to face Aragorn. "What is wrong, my good friend?" he asked Aragorn, and Melanie froze.  
  
"She has insulted Lady Arwen and myself,"said Aragorn angrily.   
  
"I did not!" Melanie shouted from behind Legolas.  
  
"What did you say?" said Legolas.  
  
"Only that Arwen probably wants a lotsa little babies, and Mr. King over their won't be able to give them to her if he doesn't wanna bust a move," she said.   
  
Legolas stepped aside. "She's all yours," he said.   
  
"Legolas! NO!" said Melanie, and she turned to run, but Legolas grabbed her hand and held her back. Now she was fearing a serious ass kicking.  
  
"Aragorn, what shall we do with this scoundrel?" said Legolas, smirking.  
  
Then suddenly Melanie let out a terrified shriek. Why did she always have to play with fire?   
  
"We should cut off her hand for her impudent words," said Aragorn seriously.  
  
"Or perhaps fifty lashes would be more appropriate," said Legolas.  
  
Melanie took a deep breath and lifted her head up. She wondered whether or not they were joking.   
  
"Fine," she said in a breathless whisper, "Whatever you got, I'm ready."  
  
"What do you mean?" said Aragorn, "We are only jesting. I let my emotions control any rational thinking," he said, "I am sorry for my childishness."  
  
"Your childishness? HA!," Melanie shook her head, "Oh well," said Melanie, recovering, "I do seem to cancel out any rational thinking, huh?"  
  
They made it to Medused. Arod stood shoulder to shoulder with Hasufel, behind Shadowfax. They looked out onto the plain which separated them from the city. Arod took a deep breath and prepared herself. Legolas nudged her sides, and off she went.  
  
They reached the outside of the city and Gandalf told Legolas to dismount from her.   
  
"Change back into yourself, Melanie." said Legolas in her ear.  
  
She gave her tail a little flick and then transformed into herself again.  
  
They walked up to where the guards to the castle were waiting, passing through the small village. Gimli remarked that, "You'd find more cheer in a graveyard," and Melanie thought he had a point.   
  
Unfortunately, Melanie saw some of the men cast looks of some strange emotion at her. Lust it was, but Melanie didn't know that, having never had that look sent to her before. Melanie had always hidden behind baggy clothes (to hide her bruises) when out in public, so people never really knew what she looked like.   
  
They reached the guards and were commanded to relinquish all weapons, and that the king would see them the following night. They wanted to take Gandalf's staff, but he worked them over so they'd let them take it in with them. Until the King wanted to see them, they were allowed to bathe, change, (the guard said, looking pointedly at Melanie, more particularly at her non-traditional style of dress) and then if the king was up to it, he'd see them.  
  
"Follow me," said Hama, the chief guard.  
  
They followed him. They passed a large hall where many men were speaking. They stopped talking as they saw Melanie. Gandalf, Legolas and Aragorn saw this and Legolas moved in front of Melanie, blocking her from view of the men. Melanie and Gimli did not notice, and that added worry onto the heart of Aragorn.  
  
"This is were the lady will sleep," said Hama, pointing to a room to his left, "There is a bathing room within, and I shall ask Lady Eowyn if she will lend you some proper clothing. You" he said, motioning to Gandalf and Gimli, shall sleep in this room." he pointed to his right, "Lord Aragon and the elf shall sleep in that room," and he pointed to the room across the hallway.  
  
Then he left, and Melanie ran into her room saying, "Need to bathe." She closed the door and stripped quickly and praised God that some water had already been provided for her. She stepped slowly into the water, hissing at its welcome warmth, and laid back, lowering her head into the water. She watched as filth was washed from her body. She found what looked like soap and shampoo and used both. If you have not bathed for a long time, and then did, you know how wonderful Melanie felt. And you also know that she wanted to stay in that wonderful water for as long as possible. But there was a knock on the door that she didn't hear, her head in the water. She did not hear the door to her room open and close. She did, however, hear someone say, "Melanie?"  
  
She swallowed a considerable amount of water. Then she jumped out of the tub and threw a towel around herself. Breathing quickly, she stepped into the room to find-  
  
"Legolas? What are you doing?" she asked, pushing a sopping piece of hair out of her face.  
  
"I-I-I," he said staring at her wet and towel-covered appearance, and his ears turned red.   
  
'What?' thought Melanie to herself, 'I'm covered aren't I?'  
  
"Yes?" said Melanie patiently.  
  
"I-uh-clothes," he said, eyes wide. He thrust the amount of folded green material in his arms towards her. She took it from him and said, "Thank you Legolas." He stood there for a moment, staring at her, and then realized what he was doing.   
  
"Sorry," he mumbled and he practically fled from the room.  
  
Melanie discovered, that Legolas had brought her not only a green dress and some fresh undergarment thing, but a white see-throughy night gown. "Would Eowyn actually wear this?" she said to herself.  
  
She put on the green dress (after drying off and putting on the underwear first, moron!) and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was damp, and tangled. She had gotten it cut a while back to stop it from being tangled all the time, but to no avail. She tried to move a bit in the dress, but found it was far to tight. 'Well, obvioulsy,' she thought to herself, 'I'm in Eowyn's dress, that chick has got to be a zero. Oh well, it isn't so bad,' but then she heard a little giggle. She turned around to find a girl of about twelve. The girl had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes.  
  
"What's so funny?" Melanie asked her.  
  
"A thousand pardons, it's just, your dress, is far to tight, because you haven't put on a corset."  
  
"What?"  
  
"A corset, to slim your figure." Melanie shook her head, but the girl was fast. Before Melanie could blink, she was stripped of her dress. "What the fuck?!?" And she the girl was tightening a corset around her waist.   
  
"Ahhhhh!" Melanie cried, "It's too tight, loosen it!"  
  
"That's the point, and I won't loosen it. At least now you'll fit into your dress." And the girl helped Melanie into the dress. Melanie tried to speak again, but her breath got caught in her throat because of the corset. She tried again.  
  
"Excuse me, but who are you?"  
  
"Ennoi, just Ennoi m'lady."  
  
"My lady? Don't call me that. My name is Melanie, pleased to meet you Ennoi," Melanie shook Ennoi's hand, and she laughed with glee. "Thanks for helping me fit into my dress, even if you are cutting off my air supply." Ennoi smiled evilly.   
  
"I'm also to do your hair, but you have none to do! Why is your hair so short?"   
  
"I like it this way, can you just, brush it or something?"   
  
Ennoi nodded, "I'll do better."   
  
Fifteen minutes later, Melanie's short hair was done. Two mini braids were pulled together at the back of her head. (A/N, think Lego-braids;)) Melanie looked in the mirror and discovered she didn't look half bad. She turned to thank Ennoi. "Thanks again." Ennoi nodded and smiled. "I must take my leave, but should you need anything, don't hesitate to call." And she left the room.  
  
Melanie stood up to get a better picture of herself. Normally she did not hold with dresses. They never looked good on her. This dress was the opposite, and she found it really hard not to like it. She looked good! Hell, she was no Arwen, but she thought she was as pretty as Eowyn had been in the movies.  
  
She smiled. Then she went into her bedroom and lie on her bed. Melanie hummed softly to herself songs that she knew she could never hear again. Thankfully, she was pulled out of her despairing thoughts, the cause being a knock on the door. She got up out of bed and opened the door to find Legolas. He still flushed slightly from the memory of thirty minutes ago.  
  
Melanie breathed in. Damn! That elf cleaned up good. "Hello Legolas," she said.  
  
"It is dinner time. I am to escort you to the dining hall," he mumbled. Melanie sighed. She hated seeing him being embarrassed because of HER. So she grabbed by the arm and pulled him into her room, shutting the door behind them.  
  
He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up her hand in protest.  
  
"Don't," Melanie said shortly (which was such an odd thing to choose to say, out of all the thoughts irrupting inside her head).  
  
"Pardon?" said Legolas, looking at the floor.   
  
"Don't be ashamed, I was covered," Mel said, taking a step toward him. Legolas said nothing, he only looked at her. He looked at her for a long time. Melanie shivered. It felt like being X-rayed. She took a deep breath. Legolas took her hands and brought her closer to him.   
  
"Your beauty shines bright Melanie," he said, gazing into her eyes.   
  
Melanie looked at him for a moment. "I'm not beautiful. I'm not even pretty."   
  
Legolas shook his head and smiled. "You are wrong."   
  
Melanie rolled her eyes, "Yeah, right, and you're the king of England." Legolas looked puzzled. "I am not king, but I am Prince, is England a word in your language for Mirkwood?"  
  
Melanie slapped her hand to her head. "You see, this is why I love you," she said, without thinking.  
  
Legolas opened his mouth for a moment. "What?" he said, aghast, "How can you love me? We've only just met."   
  
"I'm sorry," Melanie said, and a lone tear slid down her cheek. How could she be so stupid? Why did that just slip out? She knew that he would never, could never, love her. She had, of course, liked him when she read the books as a child and saw the movie later on in her life. But love? Was it really love? She did not know. Maybe there was such a thing as love at first sight. Maybe she loved him for the way he looked. No, she knew that wasn't it . . . there was just something about him . . . something she knew she could never have. "I don't know, that just slipped out, I didn't mean-" Legolas reached out and brushed the lone tear that slid down her face. She froze, not knowing why her whole body tensed as he touched her face, not knowing how to read that expression on his face, not knowing much of anything.  
  
"Melanie," he said, searching for the right thing to say. "I do not deny that I am attracted to you. However, you are just a child, and I-" he let his sentence fall into silence. She opened her mouth, and, against her will, she gasped. This could not be happening. There was no way this was happening. Why was this happening? Hadn't her father always told her that, "NO ONE in their right mind would EVER love you, you ungrateful bitch!" How could this be happening? He didn't say love, though. He said he was attracted to her.  
  
"Melanie," he called softly, realizing she was day dreaming. She shook herself briefly. "Lego-Legolas?"  
  
"Perhaps we should go to dinner," he said. He took her hand in his and they left her room for dinner.  
  
A/N: Well? Lemme know. I need ta know if I should keep on' writtin' this thingamabob! Click on that there review button an' get them motor-fingers typin'! I mean it now! 


	7. GET OFF!

Yesterday was the worst day ever,  
  
And tomorrow won't be better  
  
Its history repeating...on and on...  
  
I feel like, I'm living the worst day, over and over again.  
  
Everyday is the worst day ever.  
  
-Simple Plan, The Worst Day Ever.  
  
Dinner that night was held with the Fellowship, some advisors to the king, and, to Melanie's surprise, Eowyn.  
  
As she took her seat, she said to Eowyn, "Thank you for the clothes."  
  
Eowyn smiled at her, "You're quite welcome, and I daresay they look far better on you than they do me."   
  
'I doubt that,' Melanie said, but then-  
  
"Yes," said Aragorn, "you do look quite lovely in them." This earned a quick smile from Melanie.  
  
They ate the food in silence, Melanie was too hungry to care what she was eating. She was so wrapped up in food, she did not notice one of the king's younger advisers was staring at her through the meal. In fact, his eyes never left her as he ate. Legolas, on the other hand did notice this, and so did Aragorn. They exchanged looks. Legolas kept shooting death glares at the man.   
  
After dinner Melanie walked alone out into the Hall. The men had all decided to have a smoke, and she couldn't take the stench. Eowyn had left the Hall prior to dessert, saying she had tend to her uncle.  
  
She locked the door and threw off her green dress. With a lot of hard work, she was able to find a way out of the corset. She slipped into the white see though gown. Melanie was extremely surprised to see that it was wonderfully soft and comfortable. She brushed her hair quickly and slumped on her bed. God was it good to sleep in a bed!  
  
Then, about an hour later, she heard a knock on the door. Hoping it was Legolas she ran to it and opened it. It was not Legolas.   
  
It was a man from dinner. Melanie strained her brain to remember his name, but she couldn't.   
  
"Hello, uh-"  
  
"Artimas," he said quickly.  
  
"What do you want?" she asked shifting her weight from one foot to another. Melanie didn't like the way his eyes were raking all he could see of her body.  
  
"I would like to ask you if you'd offer me your services for the night, I can pay-""What do you mean 'my services'?" she asked.  
  
"Your services, you are a prostitute, are you not?"  
  
"NO!" she said, her voice dripping with disgust.  
  
"Then why were you traveling with four men?" he asked.  
  
"None of your business!" she said in anger.   
  
"Are you certain?"  
  
"Yes, take a hint!"  
  
Almost at once, Artamis snapped. He pushed her in to her room, closing the door behind him. He flung her to the floor. She started screaming, and he jumped on top of her. He silenced her with a smack across the mouth. He placed his hand on her forehead, and it seemed as if all troubles were wiped away. How nice it would be to do whatever Artamis wanted. Just relax, a part of her brain told her, it'll be over soon. Artimas smiled in a sick way. He reached out and stroked her chest.  
  
"Yes, yes, you'll do nicely," he said, and brushed his fingers against her lips. He kissed her roughly. Then some other part of her brain took over.  
  
"AHHH! Get off!" and with one gigantic push, she threw him back. As she turned to run, she felt a hand grab her. She turned and swung her fist without looking. Her fist collided with a human skull, and the hand grabbing her released. She was out of the room in three seconds flat, and across the hallway in two. She banged on the door to her friends' room.  
  
"Let me in let me in let me in let me in! OH GOD LET ME IN!" she screamed at the door. It opened to show a shirtless, very confused looking Aragorn. She flew at him, and he found himself holding a shivering, squeaking, and crying Melanie. He closed the door and brought her over to his bed, with Legolas following them the whole way. Once Aragorn set her on the bed, Legolas sat down beside her.  
  
She crawled into his lap and sobbed. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her back and forth. He softly sang to her, his wonderful voice soothed her. She started to hiccough, and Legolas rubbed her back in slow, steady circles.   
  
"What is wrong, Melanie?" he asked, once she had calmed down.  
  
"Yes, what happened, lass?" asked Gimli. It was the first time she had noticed that not only Aragorn and Legolas were in the room, but that Gimli and Gandalf also stood there.  
  
Her lip started to tremble again, but Legolas pressed his finger against her lips.   
  
She took a deep breath, and as she did so, she noticed that everyone in the room was staring at her.  
  
"I-I was in m-my room," she said, her head pounding as though she was going to throw-up.   
  
"Yes?" said Gandalf.  
  
"And then, Artimas c-came in," as she said this, she saw Legolas stiffen visibly.  
  
"H-he s-said he wanted my services," she said her face screwed up tight at the memory. Legolas stood up in anger. Aragorn laid a hand on the shoulder of Legolas, but he too looked angry. Gandalf looked meditative, and Gimli looked upset.  
  
"And I told him no, and then he barged in. And then, he put his hand on my h-head, and I stood there, I just god-damned stood there!" She took a few breaths.  
  
"He tried to-he tried to-" she buried her face in her hands. Aragorn was angry, but Legolas was livid.  
  
"We must go to the King!" he said vehemently, "And make him punish the foul creature! Nadorhaun [cowardly dog] I call him!"  
  
"We can't," said Melanie quietly. And then Legolas sat back down next to her, confusion evident in his gaze.  
  
"Why not?" asked Legolas.  
  
"Because he won't believe me," she said in an exasperated tone, while bringing her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, protecting herself from the world.  
  
"Unfortunately, she is right," said Gandalf.   
  
"What?" said Legolas, "But this cannot go unpunished!"  
  
"Yes it can," said Melanie, "Besides we need to gain the king's trust, and how can we do it when we start pointing fingers at his men?"  
  
Gandalf, Aragorn, and Gimli looked at her in admiration. Here she was, having just been assaulted, yet she was unwilling to go tell the King. Legolas had never been so furious. But he was not angry at Melanie. He was terribly angry at this fool, Artimas.   
  
"But I don't want to go back there," she said, pointing a trembling finger towards the door. "What if he's still there? Waiting . . ." Suddenly she felt sick. Like disgusted with herself. She could still feel his scabbed hands and rough tongue . . . Gross.  
  
She ran to the bathroom, found the chamber pot, and emptied her dinner into it. She turned around shivering, and saw Legolas and Aragorn in the doorway. She turned and retched again, only to bring up nothing. Then she started to cough up blood. She did not care, if only she could get that terrible feeling out of her system-  
  
"Stop it!" said Aragorn, and she turned around, face red, a tiny bit of spit was trickling down her chin. She wiped it away with the back of her hand.  
  
"It feels so gross," she said, to nobody in particular.  
  
"You must stop, or you will damage your stomach," said Aragorn.  
  
"Don't make me go back there," she said.   
  
This was all Legolas could stand. He walked over to her, flipped her up as if she weighed nothing, and then brought her over to his bed, where he set her down gently.   
  
"You will sleep here," he said, in his princely commanding tone, "I shall sleep in your room," he said, unwavering.  
  
"No, don't leave," she said, before she could stop herself.  
  
"Fine, then the floor," he said, without a blink of the eye.  
  
Before she could do anything, Gandalf and Gimli had left the room, and Aragorn had blown out the light, and the room was sent into pitch darkness.  
  
She tried to get to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she would see his eyes, burning with desire, and it made her ill. After she could not take it anymore, silently as she could, she scooted over to the edge of her bed. "Legolas?" she whispered.  
  
"I am here," answered a voice from directly below her.   
  
"Can you come up here please?" she asked nervously.  
  
There was a silence, and then, "If that is what you want." And he stood up and laid down at the edge, as though he was trying to not touch any part of her. Melanie sighed and grabbed him by the waist and pulled him closer to her. He let out a startled little noise, but Melanie did not care. Right now she needed a teddy bear.   
  
She ran her fingers through his hair absentmindedly. She breathed in deeply. He smelled of the woods, fresh and clean.  
  
"What are you doing?" he asked. It sounded as if he was extremely startled.   
  
"I dunno," she said sleepily.  
  
"Go to sleep," he whispered.  
  
She woke up nice, warm and cozy. Legolas's wonderful woodsy smell hit her. Normally she wouldn't be a morning person, but waking up like this was too wonderful for her to be crabby.  
  
"Good morning blondie," she said in her small voice.  
  
"Good morning," said Legolas, still in sleep mode. She rubbed his back, pressing on the pressure points. "To many knots in your back, Legolas." she said.  
  
Legolas smiled. Then Aragorn stepped into his line of vision. He sat up quickly. Melanie sat up too, stretching and yawning.  
  
Aragorn was wearing a slight frown. Legolas stood up. "Legolas, may I please speak to you privately?" asked Aragorn.  
  
Legolas turned to Melanie, who nodded. The two men walked out of the room together.  
  
"Yes, Aragorn?" said Legolas, once they were out in the hallway. Aragorn turned and looked straight into his eyes. "It is about Melanie," he said finally.  
  
"What about her?" said Legolas innocently.  
  
"I spoke to Gandalf privately about her," Aragorn continued.  
  
"So?"  
  
"So," said Aragorn, his voice becoming softer and softer.  
  
"So what?"  
  
"I found out from Gandalf how she might be able to serve the Dark lord."  
  
"How?"  
  
"She is the the Morier [Dark One], the one able to bear the Dark Lord's child."  
  
Legolas opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. Her grey eyes came to mind. Had they seen more than they should have? "But-but she's not- she hasn't-"  
  
"No," said Aragorn, "Not yet anyway, but I am telling you this because she must be protected. The rising of another Dark Lord, is something that I do not believe this world can handle. The Dark Lord's child would destroy the world, Legolas, as he is not bound to the ring as Sauron is. The destruction of the ring would kill the father, but not the son. Although Sauron is busy, he has not forgotten his back-up plan, in the rare case he feels he will be defeated, the child will be planted. We must make sure this does not happen."  
  
"I know this," Legolas responded, "I will protect her with my life."   
  
"And if she is taken, what then? We must make a back up plan. We die, there will be no one to watch her. If we die, she must be killed too."  
  
Legolas said, "She must know."Aragorn suddenly shook his head but Legolas was already heading back into the room. He opened the door and ran headlong into Melanie, who had been listening at the keyhole. 


	8. Don't Mess With Legolas

A/N: I am aware Arod was a guy. I am also aware that this is my fanfiction, so there will be changes made to the story. I am also aware that I said at the start of this that things were going to be messed up.   
  
Chapter Eight: Don't Mess With Legolas  
  
Promises mean everything, when you're little, and the world's so big,  
  
I don't understand how, you can smile with all those tears in your eyes, and tell me everything is Wonderful Now...  
  
Everything is wonderful now.  
  
-Everclear, Wonderful.  
  
She looked up at him, tears were threatening to fall from her eyes.  
  
'This is not good...' thought Legolas, as he looked at her.  
  
"So I'm a whore aren't I?" she asked.  
  
Legolas was appalled. "No! Of course you aren't!"   
  
"Yes I am, I mean, I'm supposed to be having Sauron's GOD DAMNED CHILD!" she yelled. Obviously, she had not heard the whole conversation. Or, she had, but it had been muffled through the door.  
  
"You do not understand, let me explain-"  
  
"What don't I understand? The only thing I don't understand is why I don't remember it. Oh well, I guess its just like Daddy always said, I am a worthless, ugly, slut who-"  
  
"STOP SPEAKING NOW!" yelled Legolas, his temper had reached its breaking point. He did not know what it was about Melanie that made his feelings and emotions so close to the surface, but no matter what she did she always seemed to push him off the edge. He took a few deep breaths and counted to ten. Then he noticed that Melanie had backed away from him. She was goggling at him.   
  
"I'm sorry, Legolas," Melanie whispered, backing away another four steps.   
  
He followed her. She backed away again. He stepped forward again. She backed away again, and she hit the wall. He came closer to her until they were less than an arm's length apart from each other.  
  
Melanie's world was crashing down around her. She had just found out she was supposed to be the mother of an evil child. Then her beautiful Legolas was turning on her, becoming mean. She closed her eyes.  
  
"Listen to me," said Legolas with emphasis, "I want you to listen."  
  
"Okay," she said, her heart somewhere in the pit of her stomach.  
  
"You have misunderstood. You are still poilka. The Dark Lord has not touched you. If it is in my power I will never let him. Do you understand now Melanie?" She nodded her head fervently. He shook his head.  
  
"Have I ever hurt you?" he asked her.   
  
"No," she said, her eyes looking past him at the ground.  
  
"Then why would I begin now?"  
  
"Because," she whispered.  
  
"Because why?"  
  
"Because that's what has always happened to me," she said, "Everyone I love either hurts me or goes away." Legolas said nothing for a moment.  
  
"I promise you I will never hurt you, nor will I leave you, if I have any choice."  
  
"What do you mean if you have any choice?" Legolas looked sadly at her.  
  
"War is coming. The King of Rohan does not know this yet. You must get dressed, we are speaking with him today.   
  
"Legolas, I need more clothes," she said hurriedly. He nodded his head. "I will get them for you." He turned towards the doorway, and saw Aragorn standing in it.   
  
"Aragorn will stay with you," he said as he left. "Don't bring a corset!" she shouted after him. Aragorn smiled nicely at her.  
  
"Good morning Melanie," said Aragorn.  
  
"Good morning Aragorn, I wanted to thank you for letting me come in here last night-"  
  
"What else could I have done?" he asked in mild indignation, "Left you outside after you had pounded on our door so fiercely?" then he added sarcastically, "And allowed you to wake the entire castle?"  
  
Melanie chuckled. Then Aragorn sobered up and said, "No Melanie, no thanks is needed."  
  
She smiled. Aragorn continued, "But I think that Legolas was probably more thankful then even you are that you came into our room." At this Melanie blushed. "Was he really?" she whispered. Aragorn nodded his head.   
  
But then Melanie stiffened. "Aragorn, I've never been so scared," she said.  
  
"I know Little One, I know," he said, and he pulled her into an embrace. Melanie didn't know what it was like to have a big brother, but she thought Aragorn came pretty close.  
  
Then they both heard a throat being cleared. They let go of each other and turned to see Legolas in the doorway. Melanie opened her mouth slightly. Things were not how they looked!  
  
"I have your clothes, Melanie," he said, his voice cold.  
  
"Thank you," she said, and she took the gown. She looked past him across the hallway, to her room. "Uh, guys, can I change in your bathroom?"  
  
Legolas did not respond, but Aragorn did, "Of course, Little One."  
  
Into the bathroom she went. She closed the door and stripped quickly. Then she slid into the gown.  
  
The gown was a deep rose color. It was slightly more revealing then the one she had on last night. It looked pretty nice on her, and best of all, it fit without a corset.  
  
Melanie looked in the mirror and twirled around a little. She hated to admit it, but she actually liked how the dress flared out as she spun! Melanie heard the sound of something dropping. She looked down, and saw that three small containers had fallen out of the dress. She picked them up, and saw that they were a primitive type of make-up. She opened one, and saw that it was a lipstick-like substance. Being an expert at applying make-up that she was (ha ha!) she put it sparingly onto her lips. She was shocked to find that the little she put on changed her lips to the exact rose color of her dress. She picked up the second container: it was a dusty rose colored eyeshadow. She put that on too. Finally, she picked up the third container and applied a pink blush. Melanie had to admit, she did look nice. Now if only her hair . . . She brushed it out with her fingers. That would have to work for now. She unlocked the door and stepped out. There was an intake of breath from around the room.  
  
"Gee wizz that makes me feel special," she said, "Do I offend?"  
  
"Not at all lass," said Gimli gruffly.   
  
"No, Melanie, you do not offend," said Gandalf.  
  
"Where did you guys come from?" she asked.   
  
"We were on a walk," said Gandalf, and he seemed very troubled, "With Hama, the captain of the guards."  
  
"So?" she asked.   
  
"So, we reported the ruffian who assaulted you-"  
  
"Great!" said Melanie, "Peachy! Now I shall be know as the young and the stupid child who cannot protect herself," she said, and then she laughed, "Oh well, at least it's the truth!"  
  
"This is no laughing matter," said Gandalf, "Hama said that there is no Artimas as one the king's advisors. He said that an old man named Artimas died three years ago." Melanie's eyes widened.   
  
"How is that possible?"  
  
"It is not, Artimas is not who he says he is. It is even possible he is a servant of the enemy." Melanie paled. Then Aragorn shook his head and said, "Let us not speak of such things now."  
  
Aragorn looked Melanie up and down. "You look very nice, Little One."  
  
"Thanks Aragorn," she said smiling. Legolas shot a glare at Aragorn. Melanie noticed this and said, "I feel like going for a walk, anyone want to come with me?"   
  
Legolas, who had been silent the whole time, now spoke, "I will."  
  
The others took the hint and said, "Sorry, we've got some things to attend to. We'll see you at breakfast then." Gimli broke into a laugh, but with a glance from Legolas, it turned into a hacking cough.  
  
Melanie and Legolas walked along the corridor. When they were far enough away, Legolas stopped and turned to Melanie, who also halted.  
  
"What was that?" He asked.  
  
"What was what?"  
  
"That- that embrace- you and Aragorn-"  
  
"That was no embrace Legolas, that was a hug." He looked unconvinced.  
  
Melanie shook her head. "Dude, he's got ARWEN EVENSTAR at home, do'ya really think he'd bother with me?"  
  
"Yes," said Legolas.  
  
Melanie smiled. "You really know how to make a gal feel special stud," she said. Legolas gave her a 'you-still-haven't-answered-my-question' look, and she said, "Okay what do you want me to say? I love Aragorn, happy?"   
  
Legolas blanched. He opened his mouth for a moment, and then said, "WHAT?!?"  
  
"He's my big brofer," she said in a baby-voice, as though she hadn't heard him.   
  
He looked like he was having an internal struggle between kissing her and punching her on her perfect little nose. He was about to opt for the former, but then Aragorn came striding into view, grinning from ear to ear.   
  
"The King has decided to see us," he said, "Finally."  
  
"We know that Aragorn," Melanie said exasperated.  
  
"No, you misunderstand me, he wants to see us. As in RIGHT NOW."  
  
"What, we don't even get breakfast?" she asked.  
  
Aragorn gave her a 'you've got to be kidding me' look.  
  
"Jeez, you guys really gotta lighten up," she said. "Oh well, lets go see King Theoden,"  
  
Legolas and Aragorn nodded. Aragorn led the way to the King's chamber.   
  
They met in the hallway with Gimli and Gandalf. "Now or nothing," said Melanie, and they all stepped in.   
  
The sight that met Melanie's eyes was fairly disturbing. An old, wrinkled, sickly man was sitting in a throne. His crown looked to heavy for him, his hands that grasped the hands of his throne were claw like. That triggered Melanie's memory. Dark theater . . . it seemed so long ago, but it really wasn't.   
  
Sitting beside the king was a pale, slimey haired man. You couldn't really call him a person. It was more like some sort of thing that crawled out of a bog. Gross. The bog-man was whispering something in King Theoden's ear. If Melanie strained, she could hear it.  
  
"My lord," he whispered, "Gandalf the Grey is coming."  
  
"The welcome in your abode is somewhat lessoned of late, Theoden King," said Gandalf.  
  
"He is not welcome," said Mr. boggy.  
  
"Why should I welcome you, Gandalf Stormcrow?" wheezed the king. He looked at boggy-boy for support. Boggy nodded, and stood up, addressing the whole Hall. Now that Melanie looked around, she saw many counselors, all of them staring avidly at the bog-man, but every once in a while they'd shoot her a smirk. "A just question my liege," said Boggy Bog-man.  
  
"Late, Is the hour, in which this conjurer chooses to appear. Larthspell I name you, ill news is an ill guest."  
  
Gandalf turned to the boggy-bog-man. "Be silent! Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth! I have not passed through shadow and flame to bandy crooked words with a witless worm." Then Gandalf pulled his staff out.   
  
"His staff!" shouted Grima Wormtonge, (that was his real name), "I told you to take the wizard's staff!" At that, the guards and counselors basically attacked. Legolas pushed Melanie behind him. That didn't really help, as the guards were rushing at them from all angles.   
  
As a guard approached her, Melanie did the only thing she figured to be done in a situation like this: she kicked him in the knuts. The poor fool (the guard, not Melanie) fell over moaning in pain. "Ha! Ha!" Melanie said.   
  
Then a guard came up behind Legolas.   
  
Melanie shouted, "Look out!"  
  
Legolas back-punched the guard without looking at him. Due to Melanie's lack of attention, a guard grabbed her from behind. She tried to scream, but the man slapped his gloved hand over her mouth.  
  
"We meet again," said the man, and he began dragging her out of the room, into the Hall. The others, too busy fighting and now looking at the King, didn't notice. Melanie got one last look at Legolas, before she was pulled out of the room.   
  
Once they were in the hallway, Artimas lost no time. He tried to place his hand over her forehead, but this time she was better prepared. She wrestled her arm out of his grip and punched him in the jaw. She turned to run back to where the others were. But, once again, Artimas grabbed her hand. They had a prompt and furious fist fight . . . Artimas using his supposed training as a guard, Melanie using playground tactics, what she had picked up from T.V. and her father, and her own strategies...  
  
Gandalf was drawing Saruman out of the King. 


	9. Give 'em Something Ta Talk About

Chapter Nine: Give 'em something ta talk about.  
  
This world, this world is cold  
  
But you don't, you don't have to go  
  
You're feeling sad you're feeling lonely  
  
And no one seems to care  
  
Your mother's gone and your father hits you  
  
This pain you cannot bare  
  
But we all bleed the same way as you do  
  
And we all have the same things to go thru  
  
Hold on...if you feel like letting go  
  
Hold on...it gets better than you know.  
  
-Good Charlotte, Hold On  
  
"If I go, Theoden dies," said the King, being pinned to his throne by the magic from Gandalf's staff.  
  
"You did not kill me, you will not kill him!" said Gandalf.  
  
"Rohan is mine!"   
  
"Be gone,"  
  
The king lunged at Gandalf, but was thrown back.  
  
The king then started to moan, and Eowyn ran to him. His face started to shrink, his eyes cleared, and his hair grew shorter and red.  
  
"I know your face," he said to Eowyn, "Eowyn, Eowyn. Gandalf?"  
  
"Breathe the free air again, my friend," said Gandalf.  
  
"Dark have been my dreams of late."  
  
"Your fingers would remember their old strength better, if they grasped a sword." Hama approached the king, holding out a sword. The king drew it from its sheath, and it seemed he was truly restored.   
  
Then a scream was heard from the hallway. The people in the hall seemed to come out of a trance, and they looked around. Legolas only now noticed that Melanie was not there.  
  
"Where is Melanie?" he asked in panic.  
  
"Let us hope she is not who made the scream," said Aragorn, running with Legolas across the Hall, to where the noise had come from.  
  
They opened the door that led out into the hallway, and a slightly humorous, but very frightening scene met their eyes.  
  
Melanie was standing, with a bloody nose and a slightly tattered dress, above a man who was lying in a bleeding, shivering, and, basically whipped pulp.  
  
"What the hell is the matter with you?" yelled Melanie, who didn't notice Legolas and Aragorn watching her.   
  
"Don't you get the hint?" she continued, "I don't like you! Got it asshole? I hate you! You disgust me, you motha fuckin, sonofabitch-" That was when she noticed Legolas and Aragron.   
  
"Uh . . . help?" she said.  
  
"I believe you have things under control," said Aragorn.   
  
She grinned sheepishly. "Well, maybe I'm not as helpless as I thought . . ."  
  
"No!" said Legolas, "I pity whatever fool annoys you next!"  
  
Artimas stopped whimpering. "I would never strike a woman!" he said.  
  
"Oh yeah buster?" said Melanie, "What about the left hook my face took? Does that count as a strike?" Then a batch of guards came running into the hallway, and then skidding to a hault. 'Here comes dumb, dumb, and dumber.' Melanie thought as she watched them all try to speak at once.  
  
"The king is taking revenge on Grima!" They finally managed. Then they noticed Artimas and Melanie. "You two," they said to Aragorn and Legolas, "May go. Gandalf wants to speak to you," said Hama. Legolas and Aragorn reluctantly left. Then he turned to Melanie. "What seems to be the problem?"  
  
"What?" said Melanie, "Hama, you know what got reported, well, he tried to do it again." she looked at Artimas, to find he was not there. "What-?"  
  
Hama shook his head, looking at Melanie. "I would think that by now, a child of your age would know better than to lie to her betters."  
  
"WHAT? MY BETTERS?" she yelled. Hama shook his head, and it almost appeared as though he was amused.   
  
"You must learn to control your temper. I believe that a good and swift punishment must be dealt . . ."  
  
"Oh no way!" she said and she turned and started to walk away, but a cold voice stopped her. "You will not lie to me!"  
  
"I'm not lying! Ask Legolas and Aragron!" she said .  
  
Hama shook his head, ignoring her. "I do not have time for this, you will be confined to your room for the remainder of the day."  
  
Melanie looked at him with disgust. "You really are a moron Hama."  
  
With extreme force, he slapped her across the mouth. She looked at him with a gaze burning with hate. Then she began to yell.   
  
"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! THIS IS SO STUPID! I HATE YOU!" She bellowed like a wounded hippo.   
  
She flew down the hall and slammed her door. She ran up to her mirror and punched it hard. It shattered into a zillion pieces. Her hands bloody, she screamed in fury.  
  
Then she stood there for a while.  
  
She walked to her bed. She picked out the glass from her wound and wrapped her arm with a bed sheet. She breathed in, and then she breathed out, "One. Two. Three. Four. Five..."  
  
"Boy do I have a temper!" Melanie said aloud when she had calmed down a lot. She looked at the remains of her mirror. If she looked close, she could see droplets of blood. Nasty.  
  
She waited in her room, serving out her punishment. She wondered what the others were doing. Melanie decided to hum a bit. Maybe it would lift her spirit. So, sitting on her bed, her arm wrapped in her bed sheet, her spirits low, she began to sing. A silly song that always cheered her up.  
  
'THIS IS THE SONG THAT NEVER ENDS, IT GOES ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ONN MY FRIENDS...Oh, I'm singin THIS IS-' and she found that she could not continue. She had been interrupted. The interruption was her door opening.  
  
"Melanie!" Legolas said, eyes darting to the sheet covering her hand.   
  
"What?" said Melanie, harshly.  
  
"What have you done to yourself?"  
  
"That's obvious, isn't it?" she said bitterly, gesturing toward her mirror with her good hand. Legolas stepped toward her, and she decided maybe she should abandon her nasty-ass attitude.   
  
"I'm just not having a good day."   
  
Legolas nodded. "Let me help you with your hand. You have no idea how to properly dress a wound, do you?"  
  
She nodded. Wordlessly she followed him into the bathroom. "Now, first off, you must clean the wound." And he took her hand in his and put it into the bowl of water. It was blood red within seconds, but that did not seem to matter to Legolas. He gently washed it. Then he took it out of the water.   
  
"Now, you apply pressure to the wound, so as to stop the bleeding, since yours does not need sewing back together." And he applied a small amount of pressure to her hand.   
  
"Do you mean stitches?"  
  
"If that is what you know them as," he said.  
  
"I had stitches once, on my chin. I was five, and I was climbing a tree. I fell out of the branch and landed on concrete."  
  
"What is concrete?"  
  
"A type of stone." Legolas shivered. Once he had stopped talking, Melanie noticed what position they were in . He was behind her, holding her hand in front of her, and she was caught within his embrace. Legolas seemed to notice the position too, for he drew a shaky breath. Melanie repressed a snort.   
  
"Uh, I think I'm going to have to get injured more often." she said, without realizing it. Legolas looked down at her head in disbelief. Melanie sure had no qualms about telling what she really thought! Then Legolas mentally laughed at himself, for he had been thinking along the same lines as Melanie, but then reason caught up with him.  
  
"Do not be foolish, I would not like to see you injured again. Now, since we-uh-have some time," he said, looking down at her hand, "Why not tell me of your home? There must be some aspects about it that you like?"  
  
Melanie nodded. "Actually, my dad is about the only bad thing about living there. I live in a farming community. It is so beautiful there, you can see the stars at night, and the morning air is always fresh. That may not seem like much to you, but in my world, there aren't many places where you can see the stars properly, and the air always smells of fog."  
  
"That sounds terrible. Why can you not see the stars in other places?"  
  
"In most places, the ground is so lit up that you can't see the light from the sky, and there is so much pollution, that the air smells terrible, but not were I live. I ride the bus each morning to school, my favorite place to be is the Sunken Gardens, and I have a few friends at school. I have no best friend, but I think that the girls might care now I'm gone. I haven't really been thinking about them."  
  
"What is 'Sunken Gardens?'"  
  
"Oh, it's the loveliest place. It is located at the city park. It is a bunch of water plants and small ponds filled with giant goldfish. The land is sunken, so you have to climb down stone steps to get to the paths that walk through the gardens."  
  
Legolas tried to picture this, and he decided it was indeed a lovely spot. Melanie was speaking again, so he listened. "Where is your favorite place?"  
  
Legolas smiled. "It is in Greenwood, no, the proper title is Mirkwood," he said, a little bitterly. "It is a clearing surrounded by trees, and, at first, it seems to be just ordinary. Then you look, and the ground is covered in clover. And then, at night, when the moon shines down on some of the tall grass, you realize that it is not actually grass at all, but flowers. The flowers burst into white blooms. It is the most beautiful spot I know of."  
  
He looked down at her hand, and realized it had stopped bleeding a while ago. He let her go. She turned around and looked at him mournfully. "I would like to see that," she said, almost in a whisper. This, however, brightened Legolas. "Perhaps I will take you there when the war is over. But you may not want to meet my father." he said, grinning.  
  
"And why not?"  
  
"Because."  
  
"Because why?"  
  
"He is not too found of children," Legolas said, wanting to see the effect of his words. Melanie huffed. "I am not a child."  
  
"I beg to differ," he said teasingly, "For in my father's eyes, Aragorn is but an adolescent."  
  
"How old is Aragorn? I never asked him."  
  
"I believe he is eighty."  
  
"Uh-huh, because his mommy was an elf?"  
  
"Yes." Then Legolas looked at his feet. "Perhaps we should go to dinner?"  
  
"Yeah, listen, you go. I've gotta stay in my room as punishment for "lying." Legolas nodded. "I will bring you some food." and he left.   
  
He came back, depressed. He handed her some bread and meat. And sat down on her bed. She stuffed her face, and then sat next to him. "What's up Legolas?"  
  
His eyes flicked to the ceiling. "The ceiling, and this is no time for stupid questions." Melanie laughed, his bitter tone making it all the funnier.  
  
"No, when I say, 'what's up' I mean, what's going on, what's your problem?"  
  
Legolas nodded in understanding. "I apologize for being short. King Theoden has decided to flee to Helm's Deep, and Gandalf has gone to retrieve Eomer and the others. I fear for Aragorn, he has decided to stand by these humans, I worry for the people, too, they will have to fight Urak-Hai, and-" he hesitated.   
  
"And?" Melanie said.  
  
"And I fear for you." Melanie opened her mouth a tad. No, it was because her kid could destroy the world, that was it . . . he was worried she would get captured. When he told her that he was attracted to her, that wasn't true, he must have just got caught up in the moment, or something.  
  
"Yeah, Dameon could do a lot of damage, right?"  
  
"Dameon?"  
  
"That's what I've decided to name the little bastard." Legolas looked as if he could not believe what he was hearing.   
  
"Are you saying that you plan to go to Sauron?"   
  
Melanie rolled her eyes. "No, I'm saying if I was captured, that be a whole lot of hell for you guys, so you're worried I'll fuck up your whole world."  
  
Suddenly, Legolas was the one who seemed angry. "Is that what you truly believe, that I only worry for you for that? Is that what you truly think?"  
  
"Well, since you put it that way, I'm rethinking." she said. Legolas managed a weak laugh.   
  
"The King has ordered us to pack whatever we need, so I must go to my room. I will see you momentarily."  
  
He walked out the door. To his surprise, Melanie followed him into his room.   
  
"Ahhh, Melanie, I need to change."  
  
'Time to see how much he really likes me,' Melanie thought. "So?" she asked.  
  
He smiled impishly, as she laughed. Then he took off his shirt. She abruptly stopped laughing. A gargling noise came from her open mouth. Three words.  
  
DAMN. HOT. ELF. 


	10. Cat and Mouse Games

A/N: Wow. Sorry about not posting for a long while, I was just....uninspired, I supposed. I am aware things go by at the speed of light in this story, and I can't seem to stop that, so...I am just gonna say something like, "That's how life is, so tough shit, I'm not rewriting." By the way, lil' bit a fun in this chappy.  
  
Chapter Ten: Cat and Mouse Games.  
  
I'm trying, to forget that,   
  
I'm addicted to you.  
  
But I want it, and I need it, I'm addicted to you.  
  
Heartbreaker.  
  
I'm addicted to you.  
  
-Simple Plan, Addicted   
  
Legolas was looking haughty. "What?" he said, with maddening likeness to the way Melanie had said, "So?"  
  
Melanie closed her eyes tight. Then she heard soft laughter in her ear. She opened her eyes, and Legolas wasn't in front of her. He was behind her.   
  
He kissed her neck softly. Did he actually kiss her? Shiver, shiver. He brushed her hair out of the way and kissed her again. Again, shiver, shiver. Legolas seemed to enjoy making her shiver.   
  
"Why do you shiver when I touch you?" he whispered in her ear. It was extremely difficult for her to reply, since Legolas was so close to her, and that he had kissed her in such a way.   
  
"I-" Melanie began, but she faltered. He was breathing down her neck. Then his arm encircled her waist and she could no longer communicate in any form.   
  
"Answer my question, Melanie," he said in a teasing half-whisper. She took a deep breath, but it did nothing to calm her nerves.  
  
"I don't know . . ." she said.  
  
"Really?" he said, drawing back a bit, "perhaps I should find someone who does know? Maybe, Aragorn? Or Gimli? Have you told them?"  
  
"NO Legolas!" she said in a warning. He laughed.   
  
"I think I shall ask them," he said, a smile upon his perfect face. Melanie now knew what he was doing. He was messing with her, HE wanted to be in control of her. Well, that was not going to happen as long as Melanie still drew breath.   
  
"Oh yes, Legolas, do ask them. Then you'll find out how much I really have told them," she said, changing tact. He looked thunderstruck.  
  
"I beg your pardon?" he said, trying, and failing, to keep the surprise out of his voice. Melanie decided if he was going to play dirty, so was she. The only problem was trying to keep herself from blushing while she was saying the filthy things she wanted to say.  
  
"Oh, well, we had a long talk about you, Legolas," Melanie said, trying to appear serious.   
  
"What kind of talk?" he asked, pulling away from her and stepping back in front of her. (Keep in mind, still shirtless). Melanie tried to keep her mind off his excellent chest, his perfect abs . . .  
  
"Oh well, I-uh- I had a dream about you and me," Melanie said, winging it as she went along.  
  
"What kind of dream?" Legolas asked impatiently. Melanie took a moment to observe how wonderful looking Legolas was when he was emotional. His normally dark green eyes and calm expression were changed into ocean green eyes and a face stretched tight with uncountable thoughts running through what was behind his beautiful face.   
  
"Did you know your eyes look like the sea when you're upset?" she said absent-mindedly.  
  
Legolas looked for a moment if he wanted to ask another question, but instead, he repeated, "What kind of dream?"  
  
"Oh, you know, just you and me, walking alone in a forest, and then we came to a waterfall . . ."  
  
"And?" he probed.   
  
Melanie really was winging it now. She, of coarse had DAY dreams, but never real actual NIGHT dreams, involving her and Legolas.   
  
"And well, we, you know, looked at each other for like, a second, and then we got it on."  
  
"Got what on?"  
  
Melanie laughed. It was a short, bark-like laugh, but a laugh none-the-less. "Got it on- an action that shows great affection for one another, usually involving intense kissing, and, later on, wild, hot, and passionate se-"  
  
"You told Gimli this?" Legolas interrupted, in (to Melanie's pleasure) a slightly panicky voice.  
  
Melanie nodded, and then added, "Gimli, yeah, but I also told Aragorn, and then Gandalf, too. Gandalf told me dreams sometimes have special meaning." she added, a glint in her eye.   
  
"You are not- you must be- you told them this?"   
  
"Yessir," Mel said, pulling her hand to her forehead in a mock salute. Legolas covered his face with his hand. "I cannot believe you! Why would you do such a thing?"  
  
"Woh, woh, woh, weren't you the one just threatening to ask Gimli?"  
  
"That is completely different, I was only jesting, I never would have really talked about that with them. You see, as elves, we take our love life very seriously. We never betray one another for any reason once we have-" then Legolas stopped short, realizing what he was just about to say.  
  
"Well you see," said Melanie, continuing on the conversation as though nothing had happened, "I too, was only 'jesting.' I've never said anything to all those guys! Jeez, what do you take me for, a freakin' bimbo? Besides, I'd be too embarrassed . . ."  
  
"Oh, but you are not too embarrassed to speak to me of such matters?" Legolas said.  
  
"Yes actually, I am VERY embarrassed," Melanie said in a quivery voice. As soon as she said this, she knew she had lost her momentary gain of power.  
  
"You seem braver when you are speaking, but not when I am doing," Legolas said mischievously.  
  
"Legolas-"  
  
"You see, I would rather do, then talk."  
  
"Oh, uh-"  
  
Legolas was back over to her. He was grinning in strange way. Then he pressed his lips over hers. Then his tongue slithered out from his mouth and poked her lips. She was so shocked, she just parted her lips without thinking.   
  
His tongue met hers and it seemed that they did a silent dance. It felt so right. It tasted so fresh and pure, it was a feeling Melanie could never, and would never, be able to describe.  
  
Unfortunately, Legolas broke the kiss. Melanie blinked a few times. Legolas smiled his cute little smile, but his eyes showed something a little more than cuteness.   
  
"Woh," Melanie finally said. Legolas laughed a little.   
  
"Melanie," he said leaning over to her again. He closed his eyes and breathed in deep. Very deep. And it seemed he liked what he smelled.   
  
"You are very sweet," he said while nuzzling the back of her head.  
  
Melanie did not know what to do. If he did the neck thing again, she was afraid of what she might do . . .  
  
"Legolas!" she said, trying to force her voice into working mode.   
  
"Yes?" he said. He stepped back in front of her. His eyes were glimmering strangely, and he was wearing a rather sinister (well, sinister for elves) smile.  
  
"We-we-we were supposed to be packing for Helm's Deep, and I wanted to ask you if I could borrow some clothes, because there is no way I'm walking in a dress, and - well - that's it." She had been racing through that speech, and she stumbled to a stop, because as she was talking Legolas was moving, and now he was right in front of her again. That sinister little grin was going to get him killed someday, and then he did something-rather- well . . .   
  
Grinning the whole time, he brought his hands to her temple, which sent her mind reeling. Then he spoke, in a teasing voice, "I wonder what you will do, if I let you-"  
  
"What are you talking about?" she forced herself to say.   
  
"Oh, nothing," he said, his senses catching up to him. He was about ready to stroke her ears, but that was an extremely foolish thing to do. He did not know what her response to that would be. Plus, she was only seventeen. That seemed to smack him in the face as he realized that he should never have even thought about doing that to her.  
  
His body, however, seemed to have a mind of its own. His hands had moved dangerously close to her ears. Melanie was holding her breath, looking at him straight in the eye, for she had finally figured out what he was about to do.   
  
"Legolas . . . What are you doing?" she whispered, her voice croaky.   
  
He did not respond. His fingers would not release her. He needed to do something to stop himself. Kissing her seemed to be a good idea. So he did.  
  
But he did not kiss her on the lips. He reached down and kissed her on the neck, right below her chin. Her ever-smooth skin invited him to do more. And so did she, silently.   
  
He did not realize it, but he had been listening to that silent plea, and was moving slowly down until he was level with the cut separating her skin from her dress. Once he was there, he stuck out his tongue and tasted her.   
  
She moaned. "Please Legolas," she said, her eyes were pleading. But he could not see her eyes. His were closed.   
  
Somehow, he managed to rip himself away from her. He was breathing quickly, and so was she. And she was crying silently.   
  
After a few minutes, Legolas mastered his voice and spoke. "Melanie," was all he was able to say. When he said her name, it was beautiful.  
  
"Why do you cry?" he asked.  
  
She closed her streaming eyes. "Aren't you scared?."  
  
"I am," he said. He leaned into her again, and put his head to her head. In that one moment, it seemed as if a lifetime had passed. Their emotions, fear, compassion, bewilderment, and maybe even love, burned as strong as ever. And Legolas kissed her again, on her temple, moving up toward her ear. She moaned, and as he was at her lobe, then . . .  
  
Then they heard the sound of a door opening. Reluctantly, Melanie turned around to see Aragorn framed in the doorway. 


	11. We shall Flee

A/N: I know, it is not long. I know I haven't written in over a month. . .I also know I am a bitch. . .I apoligize....but it may happen again, for i am at a standstill.  
  
Words of Wisdom:  
  
BOYS ARE STUPID, THROW ROCKS AT THEM.  
  
YOU MIGHT BE A RED NECK IF YOU MOW YOUR LAWN AND FIND A CAR.  
  
HAPPY AFTER EASTER DAY!  
  
Chapter Eleven, Part One: We shall Flee.  
  
I'm just a kid  
  
and life is a nightmare.  
  
I'm just a kid,  
  
I know that its not fair.  
  
Nobody cares cuz i'm alone and the world is  
  
Havin' more fun then me. Tonight.  
  
-Simple Plan, I'm just a Kid.  
  
  
  
The expression on his face was one mainly of surprise. "Legolas,- Melanie,- what?" he said, thunderstruck. His eyes flicked from Legolas's bare chest to Melanie's frantically blushing face. Melanie could not answer. Her knees felt weak. She was so confused, and Aragorn coming into the room at this time did not help matters.  
  
"Legolas, I need to sit-" she said. The whole world was so funny! First, coming to Middle Earth, horses, Legolas . . . everything spinning. She sat down on the bed. She closed her eyes, opened them, pinched herself, and looked at Aragorn. Legolas sat down next to her on the bed. That was really quite funny, because it looked like two teenagers had got caught by a father, and were now awaiting judgement.  
  
"Legolas, please explain to me what you two were doing when you are supposed to be packing for Helm's Deep?"   
  
Legolas took a deep breath. "Aragorn, I do not know how to explain this-"  
  
"Well then maybe Melanie does. We don't have time for this- whatever this is-we need to prepare for Helm's Deep! Gandalf has already left to fetch the Rohirrum! I want a simple and quick explanation, and then I want to see the both of you getting ready."  
  
"I came in to ask to borrow some clothes-"  
  
"Then you will borrow them. After" Aragorn said, "I get an explanation."  
  
Melanie said, "I-we-"  
  
"Amin mela he," said Legolas. His voice was strong. Melanie wondered what on earth he had said, but knew better than to ask. The look on Aragorn's face was enough to tell her that "things were not good."  
  
Aragorn locked his jaw, and then turned to leave the room. He muttered, "When there is time, we shall speak of this in depth."   
  
At once Legolas got up. He went to his dresser, pulled out two tunics, and two pairs of leggings. Melanie noticed that he was shaking slightly. "Here, Melanie, please go pack," he said.   
  
"Thank you," was all she could say, and she walked slowly out of the room. Legolas put a tunic on and then threw the remainder of his clothes in his knapsack. His newly returned weapons (they had been returned after the King had been restored to proper health) he laid out on his bed. He quickly re-braided his hair to keep it out of his face (some slight whisps had escaped from their places). Once this was done, he fell onto the empty space on his bed.  
  
His mind was reeling. It felt like he did not even know himself anymore. Why was he acting like this? He had said that he loved Melanie to Aragorn. Why did that come out so easily? Did he really love her? Whenever she was around, he was happy, and he felt full. Was that love?  
  
Yes. Yes. Legolas admitted to himself. He loved her. And this frightened him. Why was he so afraid to be in love? Then it dawned on him. When his mother left for Valinor, he had watched his father deteriorate before his eyes. Legolas was the only thing that gave Thranduil the will to live. Since then, Legolas had vowed to never love with all his soul. Unfortunately this made him seem somewhat cold at times, but it also seemed that Melanie had not found him cold at all. He loved her, yet he barely knew her!  
  
It was strange, because after she changed into someone's too big tunic and leggings, Melanie sat in her room, she was thinking things along the same lines as these. She threw a cloak on as she heard a knock on her door and picked up her bag. Assuming it was Aragorn, she called, "I'm ready!" she opened the door and found Legolas, also packed.   
  
"Hi," she said, rather breathlessly. Legolas took in her appearance. He almost laughed, because her, or his rather, leggings were scrunched up at the ankle and the tunic reached down to her knees. He smiled, and she asked, "What's so funny?"  
  
He tried to talk, but she put her hand on her hip in impatience, and his shirt slipped down around her right shoulder. She seemed not to notice. "What is so funny?" she repeated. He reached out and touched her bare skin. Her eyes did not leave his face. He mentally slapped himself and forced a smile. "I believe that this outfit does not fit you very well, melamin," he said.  
  
"Well it is your outfit, and anyway, I like it. It smells nice," she said, smiling in a sweet way.  
  
His eyes widened a little, and she grinned wider. "It smells like the woods, and like the water and like you. What's melamin mean?"   
  
Legolas was on the verge of telling her, but remained silent. "Fine then, keep your secrets, and if you're calling me names, I WILL FIND OUT," she said, in a low and deep voice.  
  
Legolas laughed, "Much wind pours from your mouth, while we do not have the time to hear of your empty threats. Let us find Aragorn." He said, as Melanie stuck her tongue out. As she withdrew it to her mouth, he reached out as quick as a flash and pinched it with his thumb and fore finger. He scrunched his face up in disgust.  
  
"Eww!" she said, as he released her. "That's nasty!" Legolas grimaced.   
  
"If you had not stuck your tongue out, I would not have had to reprimand you," he said, his nose sticking up slightly in the air.   
  
"Listen Prince Leggyl-ass, you can't boss me around," she said defiantly.   
  
"Do not mock my name Mellow-knee," he said in a snotty way, "And can't I?" he said, as they began to walk down the hall, "I am 2,915 years your senior, yet I cannot boss you around?"  
  
"Not unless you're willing to fight me!" she said sticking her lower lip out and scrunching up her nose. She raised her fists in a fighting stance. "Bring it!"  
  
Legolas looked at her in bewildered amusement. She was acting so terribly strange. Then, he decided what to do. Had he known Aragorn was walking toward them, he would not have done it, but . . .  
  
"Alright, oh-scrawny-one, let me strike first," and with that he stuck his two fingers into her ribs and she collapsed into laughter. (A/N, if you have ever had anybody do that to you, you know how much that tickles when you are not expecting it . . .) Melanie was trying to calm down, and she had almost succeeded, when he commenced in tickling her ruthlessly.   
  
"Stop-Lego-lego-las, stop! Aheee-hee!" Finally the tickling stopped, and Melanie opened her eyes to find Aragorn with a hand on Legolas's shoulder, Legolas looking surprised, and Aragorn looking slightly angered.   
  
"I told you both to get ready! Legolas, how old are you?"   
  
Melanie and Legolas glanced at each other and burst out laughing. "2,915 years her senior," he replied dryly.  
  
"And I would think you'd behave as such. These times are trying, and we must be focused on the upcoming battle,"  
  
She smiled and said, "Oh, c'mon Aragorn! Were not all tight-asses like yo-" Legolas cut her off.   
  
"I am sorry melonamin, but we seem to be getting sidetracked. Both of us are ready now," he said bowing slightly as he put a hand on Melanie's shoulder, telling her to shut up. She shook her head.   
  
Come, we leave." And Aragorn led both of the thunderstruck elves out of the castle and outside, where the rest of the town was congregated. 


	12. We shall Flee 2

Part Two We Shall Flee.  
  
Shut up, just shut up shut up shut up just shut up shut up.  
  
Black eyed peas, Shut up  
  
A/N: Just forgive me for the mess ups in this chappy.  
  
P.S. I've got a new baby cousin!  
  
Melanie spoke happily to a girl she met. She was a sister of Ennoi, the child who had 'helped' with Melanie's dress. Her name was Eilon, and she was nineteen. She was full of life, had dirty blonde hair (like everyone else in the village) and brown eyes. She was sun-browned and freckled, and it seemed she was born with God-given wisdom.  
  
"So, you are not from around here," was the first thing Eilon said to Melanie, and after that they had been talking non-stop since. Every so often she would spot Legolas looking at her, and she would smile in response to him.   
  
"Why do you keep looking at the elf every five seconds?" asked Eilon, when Melanie was caught looking at Legolas for the fifteenth time in less than ten minutes. Melanie blushed an interesting shade of pink.  
  
"No reason," she mumbled, looking at the ground.  
  
"Ah." said Eilon grinning ear to ear, "Do you have eyes for the Elf Prince?"  
  
"What's it to you?"  
  
Eilon laughed. "Nothing, it is nothing to me. I just know when I see love."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"My love has been banished, along with many of the loves of the village girls. Hopefully we shall see them again, but I do not hope."  
  
"You should hope." There was a few minutes of silence.  
  
"I wonder what happens to elves when they die." said Eilon looking at Legolas.  
  
"They don't, I mean, they don't of old age. I'm not sure if they die of like, injuries . . . I suppose they would . . . what do you think?"  
  
"I believe you pass to the Valar," said Eilon thoughtfully. Yet Melanie rolled her eyes.   
  
"You do know that I don't believe in "the Valar" right?" she asked.  
  
"I beg your pardon? How can an elf not believe in the Creators of the World?"  
  
"Because I know that God really created the universe, and that He is all that truly matters."  
  
"God? What is His name?"  
  
"He has many. Alpha and Omega, Life, Love . . ."  
  
"No, I mean what is His name? Illuviator perhaps?"  
  
"No, God. And His Son, Jesus Christ, my savior. And the Holy Spirit."  
  
Eilon shook her head. She did not appear to be impressed. Then Melanie laughed, "But I suppose, in the end, it doesn't matter, as long as you've lived a good life, right?"  
  
"What do you mean, 'the end?' You are an elf, you will live forever." she said, and turned her face to look at the sky. "I, however, will move on, and get to see who God is," and she was silent for a moment, letting Melanie sit in a slight state of shock. So, being an elf had its drawbacks. She wondered why it had seemed like such a blessing to have immortal life before. Now she was not sure.   
  
"I may die in a battle-if elves can," Melanie said shaking her head.  
  
"Yes, and when you do," she said, and Melanie didn't like the way she said 'when,' "You will pass on to oh, uh, I can't remember the name, ask your prince."  
  
Melanie smiled. She walked over to Legolas, who was staring avidly at the sky also. "Legolas, Legolas?" she said, wondering what was so interesting about the sky today. He looked down on her and smiled. "Hello melamin, what do you need?"  
  
"I was wondering, if elves die, what happens to them?"   
  
Legolas's smile turned into an extremely serious look. "We walk through the Halls of Mandos."  
  
"Mandos?" Melanie asked, not liking the way that name rolled off her tongue so easily. She sighed.  
  
"I don't think that I'm going to live through this, Legolas. I know there is a battle coming," she said, unburdening herself onto him. He found that he had been thinking along the same lines a few moments before.   
  
"Do not think that way melamin," Legolas said, trying to be reasurring.  
  
Melanie sighed. She found herself standing next to him on a hill, looking down into a valley at two horsemen. They were looking around suspiciously, and then the wolves attacked.  
  
Wolves and riders that were so ugly, Melanie automatically knew they were orcs. She could smell them from here. Then Legolas looked quickly at Melanie and said, "Go, go to Gimli, now!" And she ran backward towards the dwarf as Legolas notched an arrow to his bow and fired.   
  
She transformed and let out a whinny as Gimli got up. He had no idea what he was doing, that much was obvious, so Melanie took control. She rushed into battle with some of the creatures. She ran to Legolas. While she was still running, he swung up on her, and behind Gimli. She barely had time to think, "How the hell-?" when he urged her to battle, and she obeyed.  
  
She was twisting and turning, and then running. It all happened so incredibly fast, that she could not really calculate what was happening. Then Legolas was hopping off of her, and she looked around. There were no longer any orcs. Well, there weren't any live ones. The dead littered the plain. She saw Legolas and Gimli standing on the edge of a cliff, along with the king. She transformed into her true self, and fell over sideways, due to loss of balance. She got up, shaking her head. She was probably the only elf that had ever tripped in times like this.   
  
"Legolas, where's Aragorn?" she called, voice stretched tight with worry. Melanie walked toward them, and was shocked to find Legolas, his face a mask. However, Melanie saw that he was hiding extreme grief, and she was frightened. It looked as if he had broken. "He has fallen."  
  
She lay a hand on his shoulder in comfort. She didn't know what to say. How could Aragorn have died? Why did she not feel the pain that she should be feeling? He had comforted her and healed her. Why did she not care? Was he still alive? Perhaps there was still hope.  
  
Melanie closed her eyes and pushed these thoughts away. She needed to be here for Legolas and Gimli.   
  
"Come on guys, I'm sure, uh- that everything will be okay," she said in a kind voice. Legolas turned his mask toward her again, and gave her a look of such pure pain, that she faltered. Gimli nodded and walked slowly away, eyes to the ground, a strangled noise coming up from his throat.  
  
Melanie turned to look into Legolas's beautiful eyes. He took a deep breath. "What hope is there now? Now that the King of Men is gone, what hope is there now, Melanie?"  
  
Melanie paused for a moment, not knowing exactly how to answer this question. She took his hand in hers. She ran her fingers over his for a moment. His were calloused in some places, from his constant archery, probably. Hers were dishpan, from doing so many chores on earth.   
  
She looked from his hand to his face, and found he was looking at her strangely. Finally she chose to speak. "There's always hope, Legolas." And it seemed like she was speaking of more than just Aragorn's death. He opened his mouth slightly, yet no words came out.   
  
"I cannot see it."   
  
"Then look!" she said, louder than she intended. She did not need this now, and she could not let Legolas brood.  
  
Legolas tore his eyes away from Melanie and looked over the cliff. He stood there for a long time, and then turned. Together he and Melanie walked back to the group.  
  
REVIEW PLEASE? 


	13. I'm afraid

**Chapter Twelve: I'm afraid.  
**  
_I'll leave my room open till sunrise for you  
  
I'll keep my eyes patiently focused on you   
  
Where are you now, I can hear footsteps, I'm dreaming  
  
And if you will, keep me from waking to believe this.  
  
-blink-182, "I'm lost without you."  
_  
A/N: Hey Y'all! Guess what, today I graduated from eighth grade!! Oh yea...remember when I said things move at the speed of light? Keep that in mind, aight?  
  
In the walls of the Keep many women and children were camped along the walls. It was a joyous reunion for some, but not for Melanie, Legolas, and Gimli, when they met Eowyn. She seemed to have developed an affection for Aragorn, and Melanie could not look her in the eye. She seemed to be on the verge of tears. Melanie and Legolas walked into the main building, (the actual Keep). She followed him wordlessly up stairs, and through passageways. It appeared that he knew where he was going. Then he led her into a room and closed the door. She saw it was a type of storage room, with wooden chairs and what appeared to be stored food. He sat down on a chair and looked at her. She bit her lip, wondering what on earth they were doing here. It didn't take her long to find out.  
  
He sat there. So she pulled up a chair and sat too. He tried to speak twice, and twice failed to make a sound. Thoroughly bewildered, Melanie decided to speak.  
  
"What are we doing here?" She asked.   
  
Legolas looked around, as though seeing the room they were in first time. "I do not know," he said, eyes dim.   
  
"Where is here?" She asked.   
  
"I do not know," and he closed his eyes. For a minute, Melanie thought he was asleep. He was scaring her. Was he acting this way because of Aragorn? Yeah, no shit Sherlock.  
  
"Legolas?" No response. "Legolas!" Still no response. "LEGOLAS!" There, he opened his eyes. That glazed look still had not gone away.   
  
"I know that you're really upset, but you've got to hang in there."  
  
"Why," he muttered.  
  
"Why?!? Because the people need you. The King needs you. And, and, well, I need you." The glazed look flickered, and he looked at her.  
  
"I am tired, Melanie," he said, and he slipped off the chair, and fell onto the floor, his eyes were closed. Melanie panicked.  
  
'Are his eyes supposed to be closed? Is he dead?' She got off her chair and rested her head against his chest. She screwed up her eyes, blocking out the room. No, he still had a heart beat. So he was sleeping, or unconscious.   
  
She ran out of the room. In the hallway, she called for help. She doubted anyone could hear her, no one was up in these rooms, and she didn't want to leave Legolas, she would never be able to remember where the room was. Melanie went back into the room, to find a still sleeping Legolas. She kneeled on the floor again. Damn, the stone floor is well, hard. And cold.  
  
So, she tucked her feet under her body, and lifted Legolas's head in her lap. 'Thank God he's asleep.' she thought. Then she gave in to what was inevitable. She touched his face.  
  
'He's so beautiful.' she thought, running her hand up and down his perfect forehead, perfect cheekbone, and perfect chin. Then her wondering hand, went to his perfect lips. She smiled. Melanie bent down and kissed him.   
  
"I love you, did you know that?" she told him. No response, but then again, Melanie wasn't hoping for one. She wanted him to wake up, in more ways then one. She wanted him to touch her again. She wanted him to hold her. She wanted him. She wanted this god, this beautiful god, lying in her lap.   
  
"Legolas, please please please wake up." Nothing. "Oh God, help me," she whispered. She squeezed her eyes shut, and forced her brain to go back to Earth, the church she attended for years, a prayer.  
  
"Angel of God, My guardian dear,  
  
To whom God's love, commits me here,  
  
Ever this day, be at my side,   
  
To light, to guard, to rule, and guide.  
  
Please dear Lord, let him wake up."  
  
She waited. It may have been days, hours, minutes, or seconds. Then, Legolas stirred. "Thank you God!" she cried to the ceiling, and looked down at Legolas, who was looking up at her.  
  
"Melanie?" he said.  
  
"Legolas," she said, breathing quickly. He opened his eyes wide, seeing where, and how, they were sitting. "I feel-as if-I am meant to be."   
  
"Of coarse you were meant to be," she said her hand on his forehead, keeping him from getting up.   
  
"I wondered the paths of dreams, and the Valar talked to me. They said I had to go back, and not all hope was lost. They said much, I could not understand all they were saying. They told me, something terrible would happen if I left."  
  
"What would happen?" Melanie asked.  
  
"You would die," he said, the corners of his eyes moist. She closed her eyes, and then smiled. Before Legolas could be frightened, she bent down and kissed him on his cheek. She grinned as she went lower to his ear. He shivered as she breathed on him.  
  
"I am glad you decided to come back," she whispered. He shivered again as she drew away. Before she could get halfway back, he put his hand on the back of her head and brought her down on his lips.  
  
After the initial shock of the kiss, she tried to pull away. "Legolassss..." she said. "We c-can't please-"  
  
"Why can't we?" He said, looking up at her longingly. Her eyes widened, and it became clear what she thought he was intending.  
  
"You know I would never take advantage of you, correct?"   
  
"I don't think-" she began.  
  
"I wouldn't." he said. "I would never hurt you." he said, as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He sat on his knees. "I only want to kiss you," Legolas said, "Will you let me?"  
  
She licked her lips, loving the after effect of his kiss. She nodded her head. And he kissed her. Little kisses, trailing down her cheek until they reached her mouth. Then one long, passionate kiss.   
  
Melanie couldn't take it anymore, and she broke the kiss. Her heart was beating fit to burst. She turned to look at Legolas, and found him looking extremely smug. Stupid little smug smile...grrrr! With a strangled growl, she moved toward him, and kissed him roughly. Tongue sliding out before he exactly knew what was happening. Just as he was about to kiss her back, she broke away, biting his lip as she went. When she pulled back, she saw his eyes were closed, and his mouth was parted. She gave a little giggle, and his eyes opened.  
  
"You are incorrigible," he said, once he had recovered. Melanie giggled some more, and then quit.   
  
"Like I said before, the king needs you. So let's go," she got up. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back down.  
  
"The king does not need me that badly, or he would send for me. One of his advisors saw us coming up here."  
  
"How would you know? You were really out of it." Legolas's eyes flashed.  
  
"I only remembered because of you. I didn't want you to be in any danger, in case, of-"  
  
"Let's not talk about this. You just really scared me," she said. Instead of making Legolas sober up, it made him grin.  
  
"Let me make it up to you then," he said. He made to move closer to her and she back-crawled away, laughing. He followed her. Melanie continued to laugh and back away, her eyes never leaving his face. She backed into the stone wall.  
  
He smiled a mischievous smile. "It appears you are trapped."  
  
"It appears so."  
  
He kissed her under her neck, leaving a cool trail of kisses downward. His hands were moving too, without Melanie noticing. His hands gripped her arms, and pinned them above her head. She let out a moan as he moved further down. Then one of his hands left the area above her head, and moved toward her tunic. He pushed it up, and his hand went under. He gently brushed his hand over her ribs, earning a giggle from Melanie.  
  
"Ah, yes, I remember, you are ticklish," he said, grinning widely.  
  
"Don't Legolas, I'm warning you . . . "  
  
"What will you do?" He said, his hands on her ribs, but not lightly. They were pressing down slightly. His fingers reached all the way to her back. She didn't respond. She couldn't. Then his hands began a gentle, rubbing. She released a breath she did not realize she had been holding in. Melanie made a soft noise of comfort. Then Legolas's hands, which tend to wonder when he was with Melanie, did so. Wandering, up to her breasts.  
  
"Stoppit!" she yelled. He withdrew his hand, looking bewildered.   
  
"Melanie, I apologize for pushing you,"  
  
"No, it isn't your fault, I'm just nervous. And everything I've ever been taught has told me that-this-what we're doing-is wrong."  
  
"What we are doing is completely natural, although," he said, grinning a tad maliciously, "frowned upon. If you do not want to be bound in the usual elvish manner, then we shall have a wedding."  
  
"What are you talking about? What's the usual elvish manner, and what do you mean a wedding?" she asked in disbelief.   
  
"The elvish manner is when we commit the most sacred act of love," he said, voice going softer. Melanie paled slightly.  
  
"Legolas, I'm only seventeen. I'm afraid of-" Legolas took her hand.   
  
"You are a virgin, are you not?" He asked.  
  
She blushed. "S'not any of your business."   
  
Legolas's eyes narrowed. Heart pounding, he asked, "Have you-been- with another?" Melanie mumbled something he couldn't hear, even with his elvish ears. "Melanie, you must speak clearer, I cannot understand you when you do that."  
  
"I haven't been with anyone, okay? Are you happy?"  
  
"Extremely," he said. Melanie rolled her eyes and said, "What about you?"   
  
"I am also. Elves do not give their heart away to just anyone. And that is why I am asking this question. It is alright to be afraid. I know I am."  
  
This relieved Melanie . . . a little. "So, what are you willing to marry me?" she asked disbelievingly.  
  
"I may be."   
  
She opened her mouth. "You gotta be shitting me!"  
  
"I may be." Melanie shook her head angrily.  
  
"Why you, oh you, argh, you-"  
  
Legolas gave a half-hearted smile. "No, I'm not 'shitting you'," he said. "My father is always pressuring me to marry, setting up matches with females that I have no wish to know. I'd rather have you than any of them."  
  
Melanie wiped her mouth. There had been nothing about love in his proposal, but Melanie didn't care. True love was a fairy tale. If she could be with Legolas, she wouldn't worry about anything else. She loved him, and that's all that mattered.  
  
"Sorry Leggy-baby, but the Mel train has left the station!" She jabbed her finger at the wall.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh, alright then," she said, trying to make her voice sound casual. She succeeded. But then she let out a squeal and hugged him, screeching, "omygodomygodomygodomygod!!!" That was all she could get out. He smiled.   
  
"I am glad you are pleased. But now, I'm afraid, we really do have to return to the king." (Ha. Ha. "return to the king" and "return of the king" Ha. Ha. taps microphone This thing on?) Then he led the way downstairs, with light in his eyes and a leaping heart.  
  
Please review . . . 


	14. The Battle

A/N: Possibly my longest chapter ever, and the second to last one in this story. I've tried to keep this original for you, and I hope that this chapter helps with that. I promise there will be a sequel, as soon as I start writing it.  
  
**Chapter Thirteen: The Battle.  
**  
_Like Violence  
  
You have me  
  
Forever  
  
and After  
  
Like Violence  
  
You kill me  
  
forever   
  
and After.   
  
blink-182, "Violence"  
_  
Melanie could not believe her eyes.  
  
"Aragorn!" yelled Melanie, and she ran to him and hugged him. "Aiya!" he said, and she backed away.  
  
"Wha-" she said, and then looked at his arm. "Omygod, you're hurt!"  
  
"I'll be fine. You can help me fix it later. Ahh, Legolas!" he said and walked over to him. Melanie shook her head and followed him.  
  
They spoke in elvish for a minute. Melanie's eyes darted from Aragorn's to Legolas's lips and back again. Think of it: she was an elf, who didn't know a word of elvish. OXYMORON. She felt like banging her head on some stone at the irony of it.   
  
Then they switched to English. "You look terrible." said Legolas. Aragorn chuckled. Legolas handed Aragorn a necklace. Aragorn looked down at his hand, and back at Legolas with a gaze of undying gratitude.   
  
Aragron muttered something in elvish. 'Possibly, a thank you?' Melanie said. They both chuckled. Melanie looked up to the sky, and praised everything. When she looked back down, she saw both Legolas and Aragorn were walking towards the door to the King's chambers. She ran to catch up, passing Eowyn as she went.  
  
It was strange, because Eowyn and Melanie were thinking the same thought at the same time, 'He's ALIVE.' And this sentence is even stranger, because it had nothing to do with the plot.   
  
So, now that all the strangeness has passed, lets us resume to the story.  
  
A great host you say?" the king asked in disbelief.  
  
"All of Isengaurd has been emptied."  
  
"How many?"  
  
"Ten-thousand strong at least." Melanie's eyes widened. The king turned and asked in disbelief.  
  
"Ten thousand?"  
  
Aragorn stated grimly, "It is an army bred for a single purpose. To destroy the world of men. They'll be here by nightfall."  
  
The king strood away angrily. "Then let them come."  
  
Aragorn sat on a bed; while Melanie, to his instruction, cleaned his shoulder wound. Aragorn looked at the cut, amazed by what she had done.   
  
"You are a natural Little One. Perhaps I will teach you in the ways of healing." Melanie thought for a moment.  
  
"I would like that."  
  
"The king is going to have every male able to bear arms in this battle," said Aragorn, when she was finished.   
  
"You will go to the caves, Melanie," said Legolas, and Gimli and Aragorn nodded in agreement. She looked from face to face.  
  
"What am I supposed to do to help while I'm stuck down in the caves? I thought I was supposed to help you, how can I?" she asked. Melanie herself knew she would not be able to wield a weapon. She had never held a bow. She had never touched a sword. The only thing she knew how to handle was her very own shotgun, which, as far as Melanie knew, was in its case in her room on Earth. But even with these factors stacked against her, Melanie wanted to convince herself she could be useful. She had to have a purpose.   
  
Aragorn looked reflective for a moment, then he said, with great care, "You do not know how to fight in a battle. Not many of the village boys do either. You do not know how to use a sword. This is what separates the two of you. You cannot fight in this battle, for it is not yours to fight in, or to win. There will be other battles, other times to prove yourself. You may even find your purpose in the caves with the women and children. You will go to the caves."   
  
Melanie looked down at her feet and nodded her head slowly. She felt her self worth was nill. Then, a counselor came into the room and said to Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli.  
  
"Come, evening draws near, and we must prepare for the battle." The man looked around the room and just noticed Melanie. He cleared his throat, "I will send someone for her, come." The man walked out of the room. Aragorn handed her his medical bag. She looked up at him, he smiled.  
  
"Perhaps this will be of some use to you." He clapped his hand to her shoulder, and walked out of the room. Gimli approached her next, and looked up at her awkwardly. She smiled, and leaned close to his ear.   
  
"Take care of him, will you?" she whispered, and Gimli gave a gruff laugh. "I will lass." And he left the room. Melanie turned to Legolas. Legolas did not smile, or offer any gesture of comfort. He stood looking at Melanie, apparently at a loss for words. Then he pulled her close, in an embrace that felt so long, yet lasted only a moment. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, he was gone.   
  
She recovered, and brushed her hair out with her fingers. Amazing, that at a time like this, she was focusing on how she looked. But, she did. She fixed her hair and changed into another set of Legolas's clothes. She wiped her nose on her sleeve. Her sleeve. Legolas's shirt. Melanie felt as if she was to cry. Then, to Melanie's great surprise, Ennoi and Eilon came into the room.   
  
"The elf sent us. We are to take you into the caves. Come, come quickly."   
  
Melanie followed in their wake. She wished she knew how to do anything in battle, she wished she wasn't just a simple country girl. She wished a lot of things, but she knew she had to follow the orders Legolas left for her. Melanie would not be able to help in a battle, and she knew it.  
  
"Quickly Melanie!" said Ennoi. Her eyes were like saucers, and then Melanie heard it. All three girls froze. Melanie looked at all the men. They were standing stock still. A loud, melodious horn was heard. Melanie thought at first it was the sound of the enemy, but then she listened more carefully. She closed her eyes and focused. The horn blew again.   
  
"Elves!" said Melanie, and Ennoi and Eilon were pulled out of their reverie.   
  
"Elves have come to fight for us. Quickly, let's get to the caves, the battle is to begin!" shouted Eilon, and she pulled Ennoi and Melanie along. They rushed to the door of the caves, and pounded fiercely upon it.   
  
Eowyn opened it, beckoned them in quickly, then shut it. With Melanie and Eilon's help, she bolted it again. Melanie turned to look at Eowyn, to thank her.  
  
Eowyn looked filthy. She looked frightened. She was both.  
  
"Please, I need help, a woman, a woman is to have a baby, and no one is helping. Everyone is just frozen, listening, listening!" And then it was heard. The terrible roars and screams and yells and pounding. The Urak Hai had arrived. Eowyn let out a strangled cry, and led the way further down into the caves. It was damp, and dark, and very poorly ventilated. All the villagers were frozen. Carved from stone, carved from wood. Unblinking. Even the children. Everyone. Except one young woman.   
  
She was moaning. She was at the back of most of the villagers. Eowyn pointed to her. Eowyn and Eilon looked at one another. They whispered to each other as the woman lay, her face twisted in agony.   
  
"What are they saying?" Melanie asked Ennoi.   
  
Ennoi looked at the woman before answering. "The child will not be born. The mother is too weak and we are ill supplied. Both are going to die."  
  
Melanie looked at Aragorn's medical bag, slung around her shoulder. The pounding grew louder and louder. She made a split second decision about what to do.   
  
"Eowyn? Can we take her deep into the cave? Maybe we'll find some water. Can we take a pot and a torch?"   
  
Eowyn nodded. "If you do indeed tend to help her, take all you need."   
  
Ennoi took a torch from one of the brackets on the wall. She was handed a cauldron and any rags and wood that could be found. Melanie and Ennoi carried the woman, which was no easy feat. Eowyn led the way.   
  
"You are right." said Eowyn walking as fast as the company would allow. "On the way to the mountain pass, there is a pool. A fresh pool." She lowered her voice. They walked on. The further they walked, the less sound of the battle was heard, until finally, it was gone.   
  
The only sound now was that of the woman's anguished cries, and the footsteps on the cold stone. Their footsteps reverberated through the darkness.   
  
"Here, here it is!" shouted Ennoi, and she promptly sat on the floor and began a small fire. Eowyn scooped up water in the cauldron and tried to get it to boil on the almost-hot enough fire.   
  
Melanie and Eilon tried to get the woman as comfortable as possible on the rock ground. Melanie made a nest of sorts with the rags, and lowered the woman slowly onto it. Melanie smoothed back her hair from her face. For the first time, she looked in the woman's fearful eyes.   
  
They were deep brown. She was quite pretty, with smooth white skin, flushed from labor. Looking into those eyes, Melanie realized the woman was not much more than a girl, not much older than Melanie herself.   
  
Ennoi handed Melanie a wet cloth. Melanie dabbed at the woman's face. "What's your name honey?" asked Melanie.   
  
"F-F-F Freya!" she yelled, gripping Melanie's hand. Eowyn looked at Melanie helplessly.   
  
"Okay Freya, let's have that baby! Breathe girl, breathe!"   
  
"I can't do this!" she whispered, trying to breathe properly.   
  
"You yell," said Melanie, "you yell, you tell me your baby is gonna be strong, you tell me."  
  
"My Baby is going to be strong!" she cried, and as she did so, Melanie switched places with Eilon. Melanie placed her hand on Freya's belly.   
  
"Push, push now!" yelled Melanie, in a commanding tone. Melanie's eyes widened as she saw the feet. "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, my teacher said it doesn't matter." Melanie wrapped her hands in rags and yelled for Freya to push.  
  
"I'm gonna die I'm gonna die!" Freya screamed.  
  
"No you aren't no you aren't no you aren't!" Ennoi yelled back at her. Melanie's spirit was catching, and now all of them had hope that the child and mother would make it.  
  
Freya screamed and pushed, Melanie screamed and pulled, and the baby came out. It was not crying. 'No no no!' Melanie screamed in her head. But then:  
  
It began to move, to thrash about desperately. Melanie, not knowing how she knew what to do, sucked, with her own mouth, the fluids out of the baby's mouth. She turned and spit them out. The baby screamed. It was the happiest sound Melanie ever heard. Melanie pulled twine out of Aragorn's medical bag, and cut the umbilical cord.   
  
With the sterilized water, Melanie cleaned the baby. Her mother was winded, and mewing softly. Once the baby was cleaned and wrapped in blankets, Melanie handed the babe to her mother.  
  
Everyone was crying but the baby. Melanie shakily asked the glowing mother, "What-what'll you name her." Freya looked Melanie up and down.  
  
"What is your name?" she asked, cradling the child.  
  
"Melanie," she said, not understanding the mother's reasoning.  
  
"Then her name shall be Melanie. Melanie." Ferya said, and she loved the way it rolled off the tongue. "Such an unusual name. I have never heard of it before. But," she said, looking and the older Melanie in the room. "It fits her." she looked at the baby, who opened her eyes. They were a brilliant blue.  
  
Melanie couldn't believe it.

A/N: And neither could I, that I wrote that. Please Please Please review.


	15. There is Hope

A/N: Last one...   
  
**Chapter Fifteen: There is Hope.  
**  
_"99 decision street,  
  
99 ministers meet,  
  
To worry, worry, super scurry,  
  
Call the troops out in a hurry,  
  
This is what we've waited for,  
  
this is it boys,  
  
This is war.  
  
The president is on the line  
  
as 99 red balloons go by."  
  
Goldfinger, "99 Red Balloons."_  
  
Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli, went straight to the caves once the battle was over. As they were walking, Legolas decided he had to confess about what he and Melanie planned.  
  
Right before they reached the entrance to the cave, Legolas stopped. "I've been keeping something from you two." said Legolas, and both stopped.  
  
"What?" asked Gimli, and then comprehension dawned across his face, "I knew it! I knew it! I scored higher than you in the battle! I killed more, didn't I? Ha!"  
  
Legolas and Aragorn chuckled. Legolas shook his head. "No, no, no," he said, laughing still. "No, 'tis about Melanie"  
  
"What about her?" asked Aragorn.   
  
"I asked her to be my bonded."   
  
Silence. Sometimes it is golden. For Legolas, however, it was not.  
  
"Why? When? She is so young! You cannot be serious. What will your father say?" Aragorn shot rapid fire questions at him.  
  
"I did it because I believe I love her. I did it in a room in the Keep. I am aware that she is young, one of the many reasons I love her. I am very serious. And I do not want to think about what my father shall say." He said this all in one breath, and felt unbelievably better about the whole thing.  
  
"I do not know what to say. Perhaps we should include Melanie in this conversation." Aragorn went first into the cave, Gimli next, and Legolas last. It took them a moment to adjust to the darkness of it all. Then they looked around.   
  
Nearly every person was gone from the passage. Only a few, who had obviously not lost members of their families, were joyously celebrating. One quick glance around the room showed Melanie was not there.  
  
"Where is she?" asked Aragorn.  
  
Legolas strode towards a family. "Have you seen a woman, light hair, grey eyes, dressed in a tunic and leggings? Have you seen her? Where is she?"   
  
None answered. Legolas tried to hide how panicked he felt. "Where is she?" he asked again. What if she did not make it to the cave before the battle began? What if she was trapped outside? That would certainly be the end for her!  
  
A little voice, not much more than a whisper, spoke. "I saw her. I saw her and my friend Ennoi and her big sister, and the White Lady. They went somewhere . . . I can't remember where she went."  
  
Legolas walked toward the child and kneeled down to look into her eyes. He tried to keep the nervousness out of his voice.  
  
"You are a good girl. If you think back, you can remember. Where did they go?"   
  
"I-I can't-" the girl began, but then, another voice called out.  
  
"Master Elf, Lord Aragorn, Master Gimli!" They all turned, and from the deep passageway, came Eowyn, breathing fast as if she had run for a long while.   
  
"Lady, where is Melanie?" asked Aragorn, walking up to Eowyn.  
  
"I have just come from her . . . we are back deeper into the caves-we-" But before she could finish, all three companions ran to the back of the cave.   
  
As Legolas was running, he noticed how dark and stuffy it was. What force could drive Melanie to go this far back into the cave? And why had the White Lady gone with her?   
  
Then, each of the three noticed how the stuffiness lifted, with a breath of fresh air. They did not pause in their running, however, and kept on.   
  
Finally, they saw up ahead, a light from a torch. There was a small gathering of females. Legolas first saw the two he had told to accompany Melanie to the caves. They were kneeling over a woman, whose face Legolas could not see.  
  
"Melanie? What's wrong with-" Legolas sad, walking up to the woman. Then, he suddenly realized that the woman was not Melanie. Melanie was no where to be found.   
  
"Where is she?" Legolas asked, for what felt like the millionth time, the two (the woman was sleeping).   
  
They did not answer. Each was looking behind Legolas.  
  
"Where is who?" asked a familiar voice. Legolas turned, fully ready to tell Melanie off for scaring him so.   
  
But then he saw her. He couldn't speak. Her eyes shone in the darkness, and she was smiling beautifully. The most beautiful sight, however, was the child she held in her arms. Melanie looked quickly down at the babe, and rocked it slowly.   
  
"Little baby," Melanie cooed, and she gently touched the child's cheek with her finger. She looked up at Legolas. As soon as she heard his voice, she felt ready to cry with joy. All she wanted to do was leap into his arms and never let him go. But the child in her arms didn't really permit such action. "One second," she said to Legolas, who looked thunderstruck. Ennoi smiled at Melanie, and took the baby from her arms.   
  
Melanie shivered, missing the warmth. Legolas saw this, and wished she'd come to his arms. "Melanie," Aragorn said. "What are you all doing here?"  
  
Melanie looked at Eowyn, who nodded. "Well, Freya," Melanie said, motioning towards the sleeping woman, "Was going to have a baby. We needed to get to someplace with water and air. So here we are. She had the baby and . . ."  
  
Ennoi interrupted. "What do you mean she 'had the baby'?" The child saw that all in the room were looking at her. "A thousand pardons," she curtsied, "But, Freya didn't just have her baby. We all helped her! And Melanie did the most! She did the delivery." Aragorn did a sort of double take at this. Melanie looked at her feet.   
  
"You were right, Aragorn. I did need the bag."   
  
"Melanie!" Legolas said, and this time, he did not restrain himself. He picked her up in an embrace and spun her. Melanie, caught unaware, leaned into his arms and laughed. She kissed him on the nose before he set her down. He held her hand in his.   
  
Aragorn walked toward her. "You actually delivered the child. You actually delivered the babe?!"  
  
Melanie rolled her eyes. "No, I delivered Melanie. Her name is Melanie." She beamed with pride. "I'd really love to leave the caves, but Freya is so exhausted, and we don't want to move her again."  
  
"I understand, but," said Aragorn, "there are two young men looking for lost loves. And Eowyn's uncle is also quite worried. So, you all will go with Gimli, and we shall stay here with Freya."   
  
Freya stirred, and then groaned. "Hayden," she moaned.   
  
"Tell 'Hayden' that Freya has had his child." Aragorn said to Eilon.  
  
Aragorn's orders were carried out. He took the child from Ennoi, and cradled her close. He looked her over, and then handed the babe to Melanie.   
  
Melanie took her happily and cuddled her. Legolas came towards the two and wrapped his arms around Melanie.   
  
"It's been a tiring couple of days," said Melanie, looking up at him. She leaned into him, and for the first time in what seemed eternity, she felt safe.  
  
"Yes it has," said Legolas against her neck, "But there is hope."  
  
"Yes," said Melanie, looking down at the child, "There is hope."  
  
**_ END  
_**  
Thanks to all my reviewers: You guys are the greatest. Tell me if you want the sequel, it is still up in the air.


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